precious provisions by yasir qadhi (al maghrib course notes qnoor oct '12)

PRECIOUS PROVISIONS

THE FIQH OF FOOD AND CLOTHING

Taught by Sheikh Y asir Q adhi

Qabeelat NoorOct 19th – Oct 21st, 2013

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Index3-Introduction3-Etiquettes of Eating 8-Etiquettes of Drinking11-Section 1: Permissible and Impermissible Foods

11-The Plant Kingdom11-The Animal Kingdom

11-Land Animals12-Sea Animals17-Birds17-Vermin

19-Section 2: Slaughtering 19-3 Categories of Permissible Animals 20-Conditions of Slaughter

31-Section 3: Miscellaneous Issues38-Fiqh of Clothing40-Section 4: Fiqh of Men’s Clothing

40-Clothing46-Beard

53-Section 5: Fiqh of Women’s Hijab 53-Modern Dilemmas 59-Benefits of Hijab61-Requirements of Woman’s Hijab 62-Evidences for Jilbab63-Issue of Niqab

Notes and Contact May Allah bless you for embarking on this journey of studying His deen and make your way into Jannah easy. We’ve done our best with these notes but like all efforts there will surely be mistakes and those are from our own errors. All good is but from Allah (swt). Please contact [email protected] for any questions, concerns or comments.- Arslan for Qabeelat Noor

Precious Provisions: Fiqh of Food and Clothing

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INTRODUCTION

Allah mentioned two blessing of Jannah that are above all others: food and clothing. Allah tells Adam:

“In the garden you will never go hungry, feel naked..” [Taha: 118]

Allah has taken care of food and clothing for you. Everything is halal besides the very few restrictions. This is Allah’s blessing. When one of the Sahabah said that he would give up meat, The Prophet when he heard of this said, “…it is one of my sunnah to eat and to fast. I eat of the pure that Allah has given me… “

Shaytan came and he enticed Adam and Huwa to eat of the haram. The consequence being that when they fell prey to this trap their nakedness was exposed. The blessings of Allah diminishes when you sin and so Adam and Huwa tried to cover themselves with whatever was available.

O ye Children of Adam! Let not Satan seduce you, in the same manner as He got your parents out of the Garden, stripping them of their raiment, to expose their shame: for he and his tribe watch you from a position where ye cannot see them: We made the evil ones friends (only) to those without faith. [Al-A’raf: 27]

The Etiquettes of Eating

This chapter is about etiquettes; if follow than this is blessed – if not than this does not make the action wrong i.e. there are no haraam and halaal issues mentioned belowThe Prophet showed us the perfection in all things and we should strive to get to this perfection.

Say “Bismillah”

Once the Prophet was sitting around a large plate of food and the Sahabah were having a meal when a Bedouin passed from a distance and diverted his course to come to the food. The Sahabah said that he was walking in an unnatural manner as if he was being pushed. He reached for the food and the Prophet stopped him with his right hand. The same happened with a girl and the Prophet stopped her with his left hand. He said, “Shaytaan considers it permissible to eat food over which bismillah has not been said and when he saw the food, he wanted it so he sent the Bedouin to get it and when I stopped him he sent the girl to get it. Wallahi, my hand is in his hand, and my hand is in her hand, and Shaytaan is in their two hands”

If you say Bismillah and the other doesn’t, than the plate is still available via the other person to Shaytaan

Shaytaan considers every food over which Bismillah has not been said to be halaal Other matters of the Bismillah: Saying Bismillah when entering the house?

The Prophet said: When shaytaan hears someone enter his house and says – “Bismillah, Assalamu’alaikum” – Shaytaan tells his friends they can’t stay there. When someone doesn’t say this, Shaytaan announces to his friends that there is a free place to stay. [Abu Dawood]


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Forgetting to say Bismillah before eating? The Prophet said: if one of you forgets to say Bismillah – should say “Bismillahi awalahu wa

aakhirahu” – even if in they are in middle of consuming their food

Eating with the right hand

Of all etiquettes, only some scholars have said this is waajib (minority, but this show it’s importance), the evidence:

1. Ummar Ibn Salema narrated that the Prophet said: Oh my son, say Bismillah and eat with the right hand

2. The Prophet was sitting and there was a hypocrite/munafiq present amongst them. He ate with his left, even when The Prophet told him to eat with his right hand. As The Prophet insisted, the hypocrite became arrogant against The Prophet, shunning his words. The hypocrite responded, “I can not (or I will not) do it” in arrogance and The Prophet replied, “very well then, you shall not be able to” and the hypocrites right hand became paralyzed for the rest of his life [Sahih Bokhari]

Counter argument: It can be said that the man was punished for his arrogance not necessarily that it is waajib to eat with the right hand

Q: What if I am left handed? Learn to eat with your right hand

How does one eat with the right hand? The Prophet would eat with three fingers (Narrated by Anas Ibn Malik, in Sahih Muslim) - unknown which three fingers – the point is that he would eat small morsels of food/ bite

Thus is it is sunnah to make our morsels of food small when eating – the wisdom behind this: Eating smaller portions – your stomach tells you that it is full before you stuff yourself up.

Is it Sunnah to eat with fingers? Or is better to just use the entire right hand? An opinion: That you should follow the literal sunnah and that you should eat with your fingers only Counter: Eating with one’s fingers is not sunnah –

The Prophet was once having a meat dish and the Adhaan was called – The Prophet cut one piece of meat with the knife and used it. [Sahih Muslim]

Here we clearly see that The Prophet did eat with the knife. A general rule in Shari’ah: Whatever the The Prophet did because of the culture and habit of his people does not become religious law unless he specifically commanded us to

Culturally (at the time) everyone ate with their fingers (Christians, Persians, Jews etc) – in fact eating with forks and knives was introduced in medieval times by the upperclassmen of Europe. This amongst the many things they did, another e.g. could be of raising their beds. A nobleman’s sign was that he had a fork and a spoon.

Eating from that which is close to youThis rule applies to shared plates.


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This is part of regular etiquette that you eat from your side of the plate. This is what The Prophet told Umar Abi-Salima. Exceptions:

If you are offered (as a guest) to take the food, than you may Evidence:

The Prophet was invited to the house of an Ansaar, Anas Ibn Malik mentioned how there was a type of plant (type of squash) which The Prophet loved. The Prophet finished all of it on his side of the plate, and he began eating the rest of the squash on the rest of the plate and finished it.

Anas Ibn Malik: After this I never stopped loving and eating squash.

Eat from the corner and not from the center You work your way to the center

The Prophet said: When one of you eats, start with the corners and than to the centers, as Allah’s blessing comes through the center of the plate [Abu Dawud]

Eat from a common plateToday this sunnah has been largely ignored. In reality this sunnah has many psychological benefits – you bond, you learn to share and compromise, you grow as a family etc. It is very important for us to teach your kids from the beginning to eat from a single plate as a family Is it than ironic that the most famous social food that people consume in America is Pizza – because this is a very, “social” food; people share food together and bond over it The Prophet said: Eat all of you together and don’t split up, because Allah’s blessings come when the group is together I.e. when people eat together, Allah will bless them and the food

Wiping the plate and fingers cleanThe Prophet said: When one of you eats, let him not wash his hand till he licks it [Sahih Bokhari]i.e. that at the end of your meal, you should have a squeaky clean plate. The Prophet later used the analogy of cats (who resided in their houses at the time) to show how clean they would leave their plates. Leaving a plate this clean is in fact a sign of being thankful to Allah for the blessing of the food.

Washing hands before and after eating The Prophet said: the blessings of eating is that you do wudhu before and after it [Tirmidhi] – in this case the meaning of wudhu is not a full wudhu but that you should wash your hands and whatever else necessary before and after eating

Do not waste food, even if droppedThe Prophet said: if a morsel of food falls on the ground, pick it up, wipe away the dirt and the dust, and eat the rest and do not leave it for shaytaan [Muslim]i.e. if you left that food there you left it for shaytaan Conserving food is indeed a very beautiful part of our deen

To not criticize food, even if you dislike itPrecious Provisions: Fiqh of Food and Clothing

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Analogy - If someone gives us a gift or an object and we don’t like it, even in our culture we don’t criticize it – so why not have the same attitude with food? YQ: This is arrogance on your part – that there are many others who could have benefitted from this The Prophet never criticized any food– if he liked it, he ate, and if he didn’t like it he didn’t eat it [Abu Hurayra]

The Prophet was once presented with a desert lizard to eat, gifted from another culture. He was about to eat it but when The Prophet found what it was (by a woman told him what it was as she was boasting about what she bought out of serve to The Prophet not necessarily that he should be careful about what he is eating). The Prophet immediately moved his hand back. The Sahaba asked if this was haraam. The Prophet could have said that it was not good, rather he said: Not that it is haraam, I find myself having no desire for it (a very beautiful eloquent answer)Criticizing food is makruh because when we do so we are not recognizing the blessing of Allah upon us

Being generous with your food I.e To share food The Prophet said: the food of one person will be enough for 2, and the food of 2 will be enough for 3.

That if you have a quantity of food that you think is just enough for you- instead of thinking this is not enough, put your trust in Allah and you will find that this food is enough (not that Allah will send more food from the sky for you, but rather with your tawakkul you will find it satisfactory for your needs)

YQ: This is something that again we must teach our children The Prophet said: when one of you cooks some meat, increase the broth (shwarma) so that you can gift it to your neighbors [At-Tabarani]

YQ: SubhanAllah, even when The Prophet received the most luxurious of items, his first inclination was to share it. This is even more profound when we consider that he ate such meat once every 2 months. *

Praise Allah after

The Prophet would say – all praise be to Allah, much praise, a pure praise, a blessed praise. I praise Allah in this manner fully realizing that this phrase is not sufficient for what He has blessed me with. I fully realize this is not the end and I will never be free of this item (i.e. will need this favor over and over again) [Sahih Bokhari]

Make du’aa for the one who hosted you The Prophet would make specific du’aa – oh Allah bless them in all that you have given them, and forgive them and have mercy upon them


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Or -- Allah give food to the one who has given us food, and give drink to the one who has given us drink

Eating in moderate quantities The Prophet said: A person does not fill any container more filthy or disgusting than his own stomach (there are many examples of containers - food, money, for things, water etc etc), it is enough for a person that he eats a few morsels of food through which he will keep his back straight, but if a person wants more than let him go up to a third for his food, a third for his drink and a third for air [Tirmidhi]At the time obesity did not exist, so people at the time didn’t even think that being fat was bad for health – and that The Prophet is telling them that it is actually good to not be obese – this hadith was considered quite weird at the time but shows the magnificence of the ahadith of The Prophet that his words would apply to later generations YQ: Today if the all that money that the Western world has spent figuring out how to help people lose weight, if they spend that in feeding the poor – there would be no issues Over 70% of the US is above standards for being thin and 60% are labeled obese by medicinal standards

The average American has more than 4 times what he or she will actually eat

Control one’s belchingThe Prophet was sitting when a bedouin came and started burping loudly, The Prophet said, “Oh so and so, stop your belching because it is irritating us!” [Tabarani]

This becomes a major issue in Ramadan where one person’s actions may really ruin prayers for everyone. The Prophet said: if you eat a meal that doesn’t smell nice don’t come to the masjid

Not doing IttikaOnce The Prophet was sitting with a group, when food was presented he sat up in a different posture. A Bedouin asked about this posture. The Prophet said: As for me, I do not eat while muttaki [Sahih Bokhari]And in another narration version he said, “Allah has made me a generous servant and he has not made me an arrogant person” Ittika really means to not eat while your stomach is given full space and access to expand; so even if eating on a chair lean forward as much as you can; this is avoiding ittika

The sunnah way to eat: while sitting on the floor (in the same way as one sits in the tashahud during prayer): modify the position such that the right knee is up putting pressure on the stomach and the left knee on the floor as it usually is – this way the pressure on the stomach is from the knee (specifically the right knee) – and so you won’t want to eat as much

YQ: Based on this hadith, if someone were to say that this is sunnah to eat on the floor – only if you eat in this posture than yes, otherwise no


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Etiquettes of drinking

Most of the previous etiquettes (of eating) apply to drinking as well – e.g. with right hand, saying Bismillah etc

And 3 extra..

Drinking in 3 sipsAnas ibn Malik: The Prophet would drink in 3s – what the average person would take in as one gulp, The Prophet would split that up into 3 (i.e. drink in very small portions) In another hadith- The Prophet said: This is more quenching for my thirst, more healthy, and sweeter i.e. more enjoyable [Muslim] Today water science says the same thing

Not blowing or breathing into container In those days they didn’t have an individual cup for every person and everyone would drink from one jug. The Prophet is saying that we should not blow into this communal cup, today the hadith is taken out of context to mean that we are not allowed to blow into individual cups. Scholars such as Imam Nawwawi agree that if it is your own cup than there is no problem with doing so

It is also not a problem to blow into a baby’s food if hotHow about in the situation of blowing into a drink that is shared with other people?

Makruh

Avoid drinking while standing There are different opinions..

The strictest opinion: It is haraam to drink while standing, if you drink than you must force yourself to vomit

Many scholars: Makruh to drink while standing

1/3 say: Makruh to drink while standing unless there is a legitimate reason in which case it is not makruh – e.g.

can’t sit, or if lecturing while standing/walking and can’t sit

Last opinion: Completely permissible to drink while standing, never makruh

The reason why there is this controversy, because there are ahadith that show The Prophet drank while standing, while others that mention how a Muslim should not drink while standing

The Prophet – “zajara” drinking while standing [narrated by Anas ibn Malik in Muslim]The term zajara is ambiguous; it could mean he disliked it, or hated it, or that it is haraam. The

differences between interpretations is the difference between haraam and makruh


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But there are a whole series of ahadith that speak otherwise….Imam Bokhari has an entire chapter dedicated to ahadith of when The Prophet drank while standing entitled, “Chapter Regarding the Traditions of Drinking while Standing” – of that, that when The Prophet did Hajj – he drank while standing 1)Ali ibn Abi Talib narrated that when he was in Kufa, he was brought a container of water to drink, and he drank while standing in front of everyone. He than said, “I know some of you think it is discouraged to drink while standing, but wallahi I saw The Prophet drink while standing more than once” [Tirmidhi]2)The Prophet drank zam-zam water while standing [Tahawi]

The Hanafi: Based on this they say that Zamzam should be drunk while standing So is drinking while standing with a reason ok? The Prophet was drinking while standing

because it was Hajj i.e. crowded area 3)The Prophet saw a water canister hanging from the wall, he stood, uncorked it and stood while drinking from the water canister right from the wall [Sahih Bokhari]

So how do we reconcile? YQ: Better to sit, but if needed than can stand i.e. If both situations are equal, it is preferred to sit down

That The Prophet himself drank while standing many times, but he also found it zajara which could be anything from disliked to haraam This is also the view of Ibn-Taymiyyah

QuestionsWhat about the people who go into extremes in following the literal sunnah? e.g. eating with the fingersThere is nothing wrong with this BUT in itself can lead to fanaticism – is this person going to follow ALL the sunnahs? This same person will not have no meat for 2 months, or take a camel to work instead of the car. Ibn Ummar had his shirt unbuttoned for the rest of his life because he saw The Prophet doing this, and Ummar told him he was being too extreme. Clearly Ummar is more knowledgeable than Ibn Ummar and loved The Prophet more. A person who eats with his hands may be rewarded by Allah for his intentions. But anyone who has this position again is forced to pick and choose what is convenient for him – again will such a person ride a camel to work? This clearly shows us that a type of sunnah is not this that The Prophet came to teach his people

Sunnah-Shari’ah vs Sunnah-naturalSunnah-shari’ah is what is legal for us to do – we know this through fiqh and common sense – i.e. anything that we are commanded to do Sunnah-natural: this was The Prophet’s culture

Common sense will tell us that he didn’t command us to have camels and have a certain type of cuisine, who today is trying to eat the actual food that he ate? Which is a much more important sunnah than the 3 fingers?

Should a parents force a left handed child to eat with his right?At 3 – sure, if 13 - reason and if 23 – make du’aa

What to do if you have more food than your fill and you can’t preserve it? E.g. if travelling and you get more food than you can handle – you can’t refrigerate it, you can’t share it, you can preserve it – what to do?Do I overstuff? Or do I throw it away? – SQ chooses to do the 1/3rd because overeating is harmful and detrimental to health

Clarifying the drinking with 3 sips?One sip-pause, relax – than take a sip again, this is what is meant by taking sips


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Eating and standing? Has the same controversy as drinking with standing

We will learn different opinions, what do you want me to do?YQ will conclude his discussions with that, “….looking at the evidence, this seems best”; he will also end the discussion with his own opinion. So we have two facts – what the madhaahib say and what the teacher says You yourself have 1-2 options. 1. You are allowed to stick to 1 madhab, or 2. Stick to a scholar or a learned teacher (for this class this is YQ), but you may not derive your own opinion because you are not qualified. Do not go fatwa shopping for the best bargain out there! This is not allowed and based on your own convenience Analogy: If you were diagnosed with cancer, would you go doctor shopping? Opinion shopping? You would choose the best doctor and go with it. So we don’t do this in our deen as well. You choose the best opinion based on the credentials of the doctors and to your best of knowledge. The shari’ah is not based upon the strictest opinion; there is no basis for this in the deen


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SECTION 1: PERMISSIBLE AND IMPERMISSIBLE FOODS

A rule that applies to everything in our lives -- Everything is permitted unless evidence proves otherwise (and the exact opposite rule applies to our worship of Allah)

E.g. Someone comes to you and tells you to pray 5 rakah of dhuhr because today you are feeling very

religious- and if he asks for evidence against it? No HE must bring evidence because you have your general rule set

Similarly – two people stranded on an island find an exotic beast – one says bismillah lets use it, and the other says it is haraam as it is not mentioned in shari’ah. The one who must bring the evidence is the 2nd because the beast is permitted unless proven otherwise (by the above rule)

The evidence for this rule – Surah Al-Anaam (145): Announce to the people that I don’t find anything to be haraam to eat except (a list follows) a dead animal, flowing blood, that which is to other than Allah….

And we look at the phrasing of the list – “I don’t find anything to be haraam…..” thus we can derive that everything is halaal unless it is on a list prescribed by Allah

Generally – The 4 madhaahib have certain characteristics when it comes to Fiqh issues. On the issue of food: The Hanafi madhab is the strictest The Maaliki madhab is the most lax, The Shafis and Hanbalis are in the middle

The Plant Kingdom

All vegetation is halaal unless it is harmful i.e. has 2 conditions, 1. It is poisonous 2. It causes one to lose the intellect (e.g. intoxication, drunkenness)

The Animal Kingdom

Has more specific rules compared the plant kingdom

The shari’ah has 4 categories of animals1. Land (large) animals e.g. elephants, tigers, zebras2. Fish – everything in the ocean 3. Birds4. Miscellaneous or Vermits e.g. rats

FIRST CATEGORY: LAND ANIMALSTwo types – domesticated and wild

Domesticated are raised by humans and include cows, sheep, goats, camels


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The general rule is that domesticated animals are halaal if slaughtered properly Wild are animals that can’t live around humans such as lions, bears, zebras

Wild includes predatory and non-predatory Non-predatory animals are halaal if hunted properly – this is a more lax way of killing (vs

slaughtering) Predators are haraam

Domesticated land animals Allowed: all types of cattle (cows, sheep, goats, camels) which are mentioned by name in texts

Evidence: Maa’idah (1): Oh you who believe, permitted for you are all beasts of cattle except what has been forbidden (i.e. pig)

Wild animals (non-predatory type)Allowed are the most common hunted animals (deer, gazelles, antelopes, zebras, rabbits) by unanimous consensus

The Prophet ate rabbits, a zebra (common in Arabia at the time unlike today) Rabbits

Narrated Anas: We chased a rabbit at Mar-al-Zahran and the people ran after it but were exhausted. I overpowered and caught it, and gave it to Abu Talha who slaughtered it and sent it’s hip or two thighs to Allah's Apostle. (The narrator confirms that he sent two thighs). The Prophet accepted that. (The sub-narrator asked Anas, "Did the Prophet; eat from it?" Anas replied, "He ate from it.") [Bukhari]

ZebraThe Prophet passed by a group of people who were cooking donkey

in the conquest of Makkah. He asked them, “What meat is this?” They replied, “This is donkey meat.” The Prophet said, “Allah and His messenger have prohibited al Humur al ahliyah and have allowed al humur al washiyah. [Muslim]

Al humur al ahliyah is donkey and al humur al washiya is zebra

ProhibitedBy unanimous consensus: the pig

All types of pig and all that is derived directly from it

The following are not allowed (According to the Hanafis, Shafis, and Hanbalis; The Malikis however believe that these are makruh)

All types of dogs Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Apostle said, "If a dog drinks from the utensil of anyone of you it is essential to wash it seven times." (Bukhari)If the saliva of the dog is najis, than surely its body must also be najis therefore not allowed to consume

Donkeys (See the hadith above regarding Zebras) What about Mules? (offspring of a male donkey and a female horse – the mule itself does not have children) This makes it “half halaal and half haram” i.e. from a horse and a donkey


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Not mentioned explicitly as haraam but scholars quote the hadith, “the child belongs to the father” and so if the father is haraam than the child belongs to the father What makes a male horse and a female donkey? – a Hinny

Could they be halaal than if the father is Halaal? The scholars also called this haraam because at the end a mixing of halaal with haraam means preference is given to the meat remaining haraam

Difference of opinion over horses Hanafis say that horses are haraam while the other 3 madhahib say that horses are halaalEvidence for it horses being halaal

Jaabir ibn Abdullah – in Medina we once sacrificed a horse (without there being even a hunger crisis which would necessitate doing such a thing) and ate it at the time of The Prophet (Sahih Bokhari)

Evidence for horses being haraam; the Hanafis believe the horses are created to be ridden on and not to be eaten

And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge. (An-Nahl: 8)

In response to this evidence brought forth by the Hanafis, the other 3 madhahib argue that even though Allah mentions one benefit of the horse He does not mention that it may have other benefits

What about animals such as raccoons, alligators, squirrels etc? No, but the shari’ah does give us rules that we can apply with such animals….

Major rules regarding land animals (not mentioned explicitly in the Quran)

1. Every predator that has fangs is haraam Predator i.e. animals that hunt other animals E.g. lions, cats, crocodiles, tigers, coyotes

The evidence: (TQ) The Prophet forbade every predator with fangs and…. every bird with talons [Sahih Muslim]

Malikis considered this rule to be an indication that the animal is makruh and not haraam – that dogs, cats and all such animals are makruh and not haraam

So what than is haraam for the Malikis? Really only really a pig, a carcass and that which given to an idol (and then to a human)

2. Every animal that is mustakhbath is haraam This is the defining rule which separates Malikis from Hanafis Malikis don’t have this rule, Hanafis apply it the most and thus they have the strictest laws Mustakhbath: That which is found to be disgusting

Evidence: “….He allows for them that which is pure and prohibits upon them that which is filthy…” [Araf:

157]From here we see how Allah allows the pure and prohibits the khabeeth

But how do you define what is impure? Hanafis took this to the extreme; they said that every animal that is not explicitly mentioned as

allowed will be filthy and impure – so they applied this rule the most


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E.g. many Hanafis are raised learning that shrimp and lobsters are makruh and disgusting Malikis rejected this rule in its entirety – there is no such animal that is mustakhbath – rather

for them the animals that Allah has made haraam are the mustakhbath animals e.g. pig Shafis said that every animal that is mustakhbath is haraam yes, but mustakhbath is every

animal that the city dwelling Arabs (modern Arabs not even those at the time after the Prophet) find mustakhbath. The Shafis say that the Bedouins eat everything that crawls and walks thus only city dwelling Arabs qualify for consideration to what is mustakhbath.

Why should the Arab cuisine be given preference? The Arabs knew how to interpret this – who better to judge what is khabeeth other than those who speak the language

Hanbalis are stricter – they rejected the city dwelling Arab argument because the Arabs of Egypt are different from Tunisia from Lebanon, rather they say that the mustakhbath are those that the Arabs of the Hejaz (Makkah, Medina) found disgusting at the time of The Prophet because the Quraan was revealed immediately to those people and in their language

But this opinion is problematic and can be countered—an explicit hadith that the Arabs of Hejaz found something good (i.e NOT mustakhbath) which was NOT allowed:

Khalid bin walid narrated that The Prophet entered upon Maymunah along with him, and Maymunah was his maternal aunt, and the maternal aunt of Ibn Abbas, and found that she had some roasted lizard that her sister Hafidah Harith had brought from Najd to gift to The Prophet. When The Prophet was about to eat it, Hafidah called out to The Prophet to tell him what it was (to impress him as to the delicacy of the dish that she had prepared for him). Than when he found out what it was The Prophet put the lizard down. Khalid asked of its permissibility – The Prophet answered: it is not from the food of my people (i.e. Hejaz!) OR my heart finds no desire for it (in another hadith) (Sahih Bokhari, Sahih Muslim)This clearly shows that the preference of the people of Hejaz has no basis in Shari’ah

BUT Ibn Taymiyyah comes along; his view that the taste of the Arabs has no role in the shari’ah of Allah: That The Mustakhbath is what the bulk of mankind inherently finds this. Ibn Taymiyyah than clarifies we don’t care about the exceptions to the rule (like in China they eat everything) but what mankind finds inherently disgusting e.g. Rats, scorpions, mice, hedgehogs, porcupines etc

What about the ambiguous? Squirrels? For us today we find it disgusting, centuries ago this was a staple.

What about animals that are local? Crocodiles? Use rule #1 in that they have fangs, AND they are definitely predators

Discussion: Elephants, Fox, Hyena Elephants – Halaal because not a predator and even if you call it’s tusks a fang, they are not predators, and they are not khafeedh(rule #1 – every predator that doesn’t have fangs is halaal) The majority of scholars had previously said that these are haraam because they called the tusks fangs Ibn Hazm was more aware of elephants and that their tusks weren’t fangs – and so made them halaal – this shows an e.g. of majority of scholars making a mistake because they didn’t know about elephants. This was a failure of application not in understanding of the law itself on the part of the scholars.

Fox –


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Majority: Haraam because of fangs and this is a predator (rabbits etc) Shafis and Hanbalis consider it to be permitted

Shafis called foxes, “chicken thieves” – and that they are not hunters i.e. they are snatchers

Hyena – Hanbalis and Shafis both consider it permitted – not a predator with fangs and not a predator (it is a scavenger) and the Arabs did eat the Hyena (so mutakhbath rule does not apply as well)

3. The Jallalah animal is haraam Jalallah is an animal that feeds on najis or another dead animal

The Prophet forbade the riding and drinking the milk of the camel which feeds on filth. [So according to this other animals will be have the same ruling; this applies to cow, sheep, goat etc with regard to drinking their milk] (Abu Dawud: 3778)

A cow is in essence halaal, if it eats haraam than this does not mean the cow becomes a pig? Not necessarily

The Prophet “forbade”/”Zajara” the meat and milk of a JallalahHow do we translate “forbade”? “Zajara” could mean disliked or could mean haraam Hanafis were strictest again – considered this animal haraam and sinful to eat Hanbalis, Shafis and Malikis – all did not consider the Jallalah to be haraam but rather makruh The majority view: Jallalah is not haraam but rather makruh

It is possible to make a makruh animal non-makruh animal by feeding it pure food for a number of days (a week or so) How much meat must they consume for the animal to be Jallalah?

Does not apply to a morsel or two because an animal that pecks will usually pick up some dung anywayHanbalis say that if more than 50% of its feed is najis than it is najis and thus makruhShafis say that if you can detect a change in the color or smell of milk or animal than this is a Jallalah

animal

SECOND CATEGORY: SEA ANIMALS

Allah praises fish in the Quran in a way that He does not praise anything else. An adjective is used that is not used for any other meat. Surah Fatir, verse 12: Allah says that He has blessed us with sweet water and salt water and from the both types of water, Allah says “we extract meat that is taree (beneficial, nutritional, fresh, juicy, succulent)” Allah thus praises fish meat like He does no other and today modern science also says the same

1. By unanimous consensus, all fish are permitted including whales Scholars did not differentiate between mammalian and regular fish. The Prophet himself ate fish.

Once Abu Ubaydah and a number of Sahaba on an expedition were struck with severe hunger. They passed by a large dead blue whale (it was so large that when they dug a bone of whale into the shore Abu Ubaydah could go under the bone while being on his camel) The entire expedition ate for 2 weeks with this


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whale and packed some to Madina where they presented it in front of The Prophet. The Prophet to demonstrate how halaal it was ate it in front of them [Bokhari]

This is the only time that The Prophet ate seafood- and it was a normal daily-life situation i.e. not done in a dire or famine situation

Differences of opinion2. Animals that live in the water beside fish E.g. lobster, octopus and shrimp

Hanafis considers all haraam – everything that is non-fishy from the ocean is not allowed Evidence? The Mustakhbath rule and the predator with fangs rule was applied to the oceans by

the Hanafis The other 3 madhaahib said that these rules are not applicable to the ocean

EvidencesLawful to you is the game of the sea and its food, a provision for you and for the

travelers, and the game of the land is forbidden to you so long as you are on pilgrimage, and be careful of (your duty to) Allah, to Whom you shall be gathered. (Al-Maidah: 96)

Not just fish – but really that you throw a net in water and anything that comes is permitted

Hadith of the sailor coming to the Prophet: The sailor said, “Oh Messenger of Allah, I am a sailor and sometimes we run out of water. Can we made Wudhu with salt water?” The Prophet gave a general rule and said, “Its water is pure and its dead is halaal to eat” You can make wudhu with ocean water even if you have fresh water.

The sailor did not ask about seafood, but the Prophet gave the verdict anyway. Based on this hadith, the Prophet said, “it’s dead is allowed.” Sea food thus has no rules of Zabihah

3. Animals that live on the shore- including crabs, turtles and seals These animals are always found where water and sand mix The shari’ah has nothing explicit on this, so do we consider them ocean or land creatures?

Hanafis said haraam for these creatures – mustakhbath being the main reason (clearly the Hanafis stretched this rule)

Malikis said all such animals are halaal without distinction Shafis and Hanbalis

Certain animals in the ocean were called the land equivalent – e.g. pig-snout, sea-horse – explaining that if Allah has prohibited the land dog than the sea dog would also be not allowed– this was the view of some scholars (YQ: this shows us the humanity of scholars and that really they made mistakes as well)

But the argument against this is strong and clear – these names are man-made and not made by Allah thus we do not accept this YQ: Creatures with flowing blood (or large creatures) will take the rule of land animals, and creatures

that are small or do not have flowing blood will take the rule of sea animals Thus with this distinction crabs are halaal – seals, alligators and crocodiles are considered land

animals and so not allowed. To consume seals, they would have to be hunted (not slaughtered)


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THIRD CATEGORY: BIRDS

The vast majority of birds are allowedBird meat has been praised in the Quran like no other; in Surah Waqi’ah Allah says, “they shall have the meat of any bird they desire….”

Exceptions1. Birds that hunt with Talons (TQ) See previous hadith: The Prophet forbade every predator with fangs and…. Every bird with talons [Sahih Muslim]

i.e. anything that can swoop down and catching the prey e.g. Hawks, Eagles, Falcons

But the Malikis only consider such animals Makruh, the other 3 madhaahib consider such animals haraam

2. Feeds that feed off carrion/dead meat Includes Vultures, Buzzards and Kites The three madhabs define the mustakhbath bird as one that eats carrion.

The Hanafis, Shafis, and Hanbalis consider it haram to eat large black crows and speckled crows, which are both birds that usually eat only carrion, so they are abhorrent to those of a sound nature. This type also includes vultures because they also only eat carrion (even though they do not have talons with which they catch prey)

The Prophet forbade killing 2 specific birds 1. Shrike2. Hud-hud – hoopoe

The Messenger of Allaah forbade killing four kinds of animals: ants, bees, hoopoes and sparrow-hawks. (Abu Dawud and Ibn Majaah)

FOURTH CATEGORY: LAND VERMIN

Includes all other animals such as insects, rats, lizards, snakes etc

The Locust An animal that is allowed by all madhaahib by unanimous consensus

Narrated Ibn Abi Aufa: We participated with the Prophet in six or seven Ghazawat, and weused to eat locusts with him. (Bukhari)

The Prophet said: Allah has allowed for us two dead animals – the whale and the locust Locusts were very popular at the time in Arabia

Even in Jewish law all vermin are haraam except locusts


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All madhaahib consider all vermin to be haraam except Malikis Evidence: Based on the mustakhbath hadith – but remember that the Malikis don’t adopt this rule

YQ: The Malikis definitely have a good rationale, but if we were to take this opinion than EVERYTHING would be permissible, including snails, insects, snakes, rats etc

A man came to Imam Malik asking about snails – and Imam Malik answered: I see no difference between locusts and snails

An explicit prohibition about FrogsThe Prophet forbade the killing of frogs – that, “their croaking is their Tasbeeh” [Abu Dawud]

Abd al-Rahmaan ibn Uthmaan, according to which a doctor came and asked The Prophet about using frogs in medicine, and The Prophet forbade killing them. [Abu Dawood]


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SECTION 2: SLAUGHTER (DHABH)

Remember that only domesticated animals are slaughtered and permissible wild animals are hunted

Three categories of permissible animals

1. Those that require slaughteringDomesticated animals that are in one’s control (domesticated animals that are hunted and allowed in the shari’ah: an example of this would be if a cow is stuck in a well than we are allowed to kill it in a non-dhabh manner and consider its meat to be halaal)If you have control over an animal, you must slaughter it For wild non-predator animals generally we won’t have control over them and so in their cases we may hunt

Two methods of slaughtering Dhabh and NahrDhabh is to cut the neck right at the collarbone i.e. the Adam’s apple – this applies to cows, sheeps, goats etcNahr is to do it right above the rib cage – right above the highest chest bone – this would be pronounced in a camel and so this method is applied with the camel

Evidence – Quran: “Therefore turn to your lord in prayer and sacrifice [Al-Kauthar]”

2. Hunted animals The primary difference from Dhabh? That here the wound can be from anywhere on the body (not just at the neck like in Dhabh). The wound may be inflicted anywhere as long as the animal bleeds to death.

Good things are allowed to you and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt – you teach them of what Allah has taught you – so eat of that which they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it; and be careful of your duty Allah, surely Allah is swift in reckoning [Maa’idah, 4]

We can hunt with dogs and birds – their kill is halaal for us The fiqh of hunting mainly deals with the animals of hunting and is not mentioned in detail in this course

Who is allowed to hunt? 1) Anyone not in a state of ihram, 2) A Muslim, Christian or a Jew With what? Any trained animal or anything that kills by bleeding (i.e. not with trauma or starvation etc)

Bleeding is a faster way to die Bullets? Allowed as the mechanism of kill is via blood gushing

Beating an animal to death is haram Characteristics of a trained dog? What type of dog is allowed?

A dog or falcon that has been trained (not wild) – how can we confirm if it is trained? A dog or bird that catches for you not for itself

Procedure of Hunting For the 3 madhabs except Shafis – when release dog or arrow, must say Bismillah

It is sunnah for Shafis


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The evidence for Bismillah Maa’idah (see above): “..and mention the name of Allah over it..”The Prophet said: when you release your dog and say Bismillah, and you find another dog with

your own dog at the animal (prey) and if you don’t know which animal killed the prey (your’s or the other animal) – don’t eat the meat of the prey because you only said Bismillah for your dog

What if you intended a specific deer and the dog captured another one? Or you point at one duck and another falls?Most say that Bismillah is generic and that a different pray captured is ok

What if you are in doubt as to how the animal died?According to all 4 madhaahib, if in doubt than it is better to leave it

3. Animals neither slaughtered not hunted – fish, seafood, and locusts Certain sea creatures that - you can’t chop their head off - can be killed in their usual customary manner of killing

E.g. lobsters are killed while cooking and this is how they are customarily killedThe condition is that the slaughter must be done in order to eat them

CONDITIONS OF SLAUGHTER

Rafi ibn Khadij asked The Prophet, “sometimes we’re in the desert and we don’t have a knife with which to slaughter, what can we do” – The Prophet said: “whatever causes the blood to gush out or whatever Allah’s name is mentioned over, eat of it” [Muttafaq ‘alayah]

Here we see two specific conditions, 1) to cause blood to gush and 2) to say Bismillah

General guidelines by madhaahibThe Shafis are the most relaxed, and the other 3 all take the middle-way

1.INTELLIGENCE: The person who slaughters must be capable and intending to slaughter Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis: The intention is required

The evidence: In Bokhari that “all actions are done by intentions..”

Scenarios…What if the animal manages to cut itself against a sharp wire? What if an insane man slashes the chickens across the neck without intention?

Shafis: The intention is not required thus in the above two conditions the animal is allowed The root argument: Is slaughtering an animal an action of worship or this duniya?

E.g. Do we make an intention before we eat? NoBefore wearing clothes? NoBefore praying, fasting or making wudhu? Yes - it is required Does walking in the rain without an intention count as ghusl? No, it does not


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The 3 madhahib said that sacrificing an animal is an action of worship Quran: “Therefore turn to your lord in prayer and sacrifice..” [Kauthar] Quran: Say, "Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord

of the worlds. [Mohammed: 162]But the Shafis disagree; this is not a ritual and thus no need for intention

Is there a minimum age limit for the one who slaughters?No age limit specified; a kid can do it Should a person be in a state of Tahara to slaughter? Is it permissible to slaughter in a state of Janabah (impurity)? There are no conditions for purity or impurity in slaughtering; either are fine

Is there a differentiation between men versus women to carry out the slaughtering?There is no distinction

2.RELIGION: The religion of the one who slaughtersUnanimous consensus that any Muslim, Jew or Christian may slaughter an animal

Thus ALL 4 madhahib believe that Jews, Christians, Muslims may sacrifice

So what constitutes a Christian? Are these people really Christians that believe in the original doctrines of their religion, hasn’t their religion become corrupted?

A mute point todayAnyone really who believes in the doctrines of Christianity – caling someone “kuffaar” does not negate

that they are still people of the book This rule as to being able to eat their meat based on this condition is similar to how we are allowed to

marry their chaste, virtuous women The Quran also says that Ahlil Kitaab believe in the trinity, Jesus is the son of God etc – Allah has

specifically mentioned what they believe and than He says that they are allowed to slaughter

What sects of Muslims allowed? Most are in – YQ: Qadiyaanis, Ismailis, Druze, Alwais are not allowed – but most others are assumed to be in the generic fold of Islam

What groups of Christians are permitted? Their differences between them are trivialWhat about Mormons? They are the “Qadiyyaanis of Christians” – they believe in a different prophet and a different book, thus are not included as Christians

3.INSTRUMENT: The instrument used must have two conditions1) It must be sharp such that the animal is killed by the sharp cut and not by the blow of the instrument 2) That it not be manufactured from an animal’s teeth or claws

The unanimous consensus is that the instrument used be sharp and not from the animal’s teeth or claws and MUST kill by gushing blood. Remember that the, “gushing blood” rule applies to hunting as well.


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The second condition is that the knife cannot be made from animals, teeth, or claws (e.g. an ivory knife is not allowed).

The Prophet instructed animals to be slaughtered except (not with) with teeth/claws or nails. This hadith is ambiguous

Many scholars interpreted it to mean that slaughtering cannot be done with instruments made of teeth or nails.

Other scholars said that in jahiliyy society they would claw a chicken to death or rip it open and let it bleed, so when the Prophet said this, he is saying to not slaughter as their jahiliyy practice was.

The FDA process today involves the stunning of the animal followed by it’s killing via the neck. This is completely halaal.

The mechanism of stun? Chickens are lowered into water and electrocutedCows are hit with a stun-gun

YQ: People are seldom concerned with the ethical treatment of animals; we eat meat but we do ever think about how that meat got to our plates? Even though torturing an animal does not make it haraam (it is makruh), the inhumane treatment of these animals is something for us to really consider.

As long as the heart is beating after the stunning (even if the animal is paralyzed), and the animal is killed via the cut to the neck, this is halaal.

The problem with stunning large animals such as cows A large percentage of larger animals will die via stunning and before killed via a cut to the neck. This

raises a problem with the condition (that animals must be cut via gushing blood via a cut to the neck). This problem does not arise with smaller animals.

A worker may stun-gun 10 cows at a time and when he returns to the first that cow may already be dead before the neck cut. Furthermore the worker may go to lunch and return to kill the cows via the neck, in which case there is a larger chance that the cows are already dead.

Based upon this condition, there is another opinion amongst North American scholars: poultry is halaal and beef is haram. Their thinking:

This is definitely a Christian plant (RELIGION condition satisfied) The workers have intended to sacrifice (INTENTION condition satisfied) The knife has reached the throat of the chicken (VEIN condition satisfied, see below), But a good percentage of cows are dead before the knife reaches their throats therefore, there is huge doubt regarding beef and thus it is considered impermissible.

Counter argument: Those who allow beef say that it is a trivial percentage of beef that is dead before the knife reaches it.

The problem with the method of killing of large animals such as cowsA second problem that arises is that nowadays cows are being killed with a vertical cut across their bodies rather than a horizontal cut; this done to be more efficient as this causes less blood leakage. This is haraam and against the Shari’ah laws which encourage blood flow as much as possible.

4.VEINS that need to be cut


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The 4 passages that must be severed include: 1) The esophagus (food passageway) 2) The trachea (air passageway), 3) The two large jugular veins (blood and arteries) on each side of the body.

All 4 of these passages run very close together at the neck (Adam’s apple area); hence our reason for cutting at the neck (Dhabh). The spinal chord must be left intact.

This is the safe view, considered the perfect slaughter and covers the requirements of all madhaahib, however there are generally vast differences between madhaahib and within madhaahib on what needs to be cut.

Cutting to a depth of 1 inch will ensure all 4 are cut with the spinal chord left intact; it will also let blood flow Recall that for hunting any blood from anywhere will do

It would be very hard to not cut spinal chords in chickens, what about such small animals?The rule is lax with chickens due to their tight anatomy

Why leave the spinal chord? Cutting off the spinal cord will stop signals to the heart which cause the animal to die from heart stopping rather than blood flowing

What is the minimum that must be cut? As mentioned above, there are vast differences within and between madhaahib on this issue Imam Malik and Hanbali: all four must be cut Abu Hanifah: any of these three must be cut Standard Maliki madhab position: the tachea and the two jugular vein are the minimum (esophagus is voluntary) Abu Yusuf (student of Imam Abu Hanifah): the trachea, the esophagus, and one of the two jugular veins is wajibStandard Shafi and Hanbali opinion: trachea and esophagusAnother pos’n – any 2 need to be cut

The bottomline- continue to cut for at least 1 inches and you will guarantee all 4 With a perfect slaughter the blood will gush out – and this is the primary purpose of the Islamic

slaughter (and this is why flowing blood is Najis)

When cooking, do we need to clean ALL blood from meat?Any blood left on the meat while cooking in the kitchen regularly is ok – not to worry about this

Any blood that is gushing is the only type of blood that is najis

What about the adab of treating animals?If certain cruelty happens, that does not make the animal haraam for us

What about going to another restaurant where meats are mixed when cooked such as fish? Allah tells us to be reasonably precautious and not fanatically precautious – reasonable doubts are only allowed.


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It is highly likely fish will not be mixed with other meats as this will spoil it’s taste. Even Mcdonalds uses separate areas for fish. The same can’t be applied when ordering chicken and beef etc from restaurants.

….The 4 conditions above would easily be met in North AmericaThe Tasmiyah is the main issue

5.TASYMIYAH - Saying Bismillah

THREE OPINIONS 1.The Tasmiya is obligatory in all circumstances

The opinion of Ibn-Taymiyyah, Ibn-Qayyum, Hanbalis, Uthaymeen2.Obligatory – but forgiven if accidently forgotten

This is the opinion of the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis 3 The Tasmiya is recommended but not obligatory in all circumstances

This Is the Shafis position – most Egyptian scholars thus say that the meat is halaal here

OPINION 1: The Tasmiya is obligatory in all circumstances - Taymiyyah, Ibn-Qayyum, Hanbalis, Uthaymeen

Evidences for the first opinion1) [Al- Hajj :34]To every people did We appoint rites (of sacrifice), that they might celebrate the name of Allah over the sustenance He gave them from animals (fit for food). But your god is One God: submit then your wills to Him (in Islam): and give thou the good news to those who humble themselves.

2) [An-Aam: 118-121]Eat of that meat over which Allah’s name has been mentioned if you believe in His signs. And what is the matter with you that you should not eat from that on which the name of Allah has been pronounced, while He has explained to you in detail what is forbidden to you. And do not eat the meat over which the name of Allah has not been pronounced for undoubtedly that is disobedience. – Not saying tasmiyah is a sin according to these verses

3) This is a sign of being a Muslim according to The Prophet It is related that Anas ibn Malik said that the Messenger of Allah said, “Whoever prays our prayer and faces our qiblah and eats what we slaughter, he is a Muslim and is under the protection of Allah and the protection of His Messenger. Do not act treacherously against Allah with respect to those under His protection." [Bukhari]

The Prophet puts prayers, our Qiblah to the same level as eating

4) Evidence from the hadith of hunted animals; strictness in saying the name of Allah is shown even with hunting Abu Tha’laba al-Khushani said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, we live in a land where (people ) hunt. I hunt with my bow, and with my trained dog, and with my untrained dog, so tell me what is permitted for me?” He replied, “You asked that you live in a land of hunting, so whatever you hunt with your bow and mention Allah’s name over it, eat it. And whatever your trained dog catches, and you have mentioned Allah’s name over it, eat it. And whatever your untrained dog catches and you are able to sacrifice it yourself, eat of it.” [Bukhari]


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This is explicit evidence according to Ibn Taymiyyah that saying Bismillah is wajib and that when there was a doubt than it is not allowed

5) Prohibited even in Pre-Islamic TimesWaraqah ibn Nawfal – would say that he would only eat the meat over which Allah’s name was mentioned

6) Satan eats over meat over which no name is mentioned The Prophet said: That meat over which Allah’s name has not been mentioned is eaten by Shaytaan

Ibn-Taymiyyah said: The Prophet has given Muslim jinns access to food – The Prophet said they eat every bone over which a Muslim has eaten and said Bismillah over

(this is nutrition for the Muslim jinns)

OPINION 2.Obligatory but forgiven if forgotten- the standard opinion of the Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis

Evidences for the 2nd opinionQuote the evidences from the first opinion and than add, The Prophet said: my Lord has forgiven from

my nation mistakes, forgetfulness and anything they were forced to do” [Ahmed]

OPINION 3. The Tasmiya is recommended but not obligatory in all circumstances - This Is the Shafis position – most Egyptian scholars thus say that the meat is halaal here

Evidences for the 3rd opinion -

1) A Muslim in general is not really required to say Bismillah The Prophet said: A Muslim sacrifices using the name of Allah regardless of whether he verbalizes it or not Reported by al-Daruqtani; considered weak by all discerning scholars of hadith including An-Nawawi and Ibn Hajr.

YQ: Fiqh is not built upon weak hands

2) Can say Bismillah and eat from it – the hadith of meat presented to the SahabaAisha narrates that a group of people came to the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of Allah, some people send us meat and we do not know whether they mention the name of Allah over it or not.” The Prophet said, “you say Bismillah and than eat over it.” Aisha adds, “This group had just accepted Islam.” [Bokhari]

Shafis: This hadith shows the Bismillah is not wajib. Those who are against the 3rd opinion (including the other 3 madhaahib outside the Shafis) use it as

evidence AGAINST the opinion that Bismillah is wajib 1) It shows the importance of saying Bismillah; had it not been important (or only a sunnah) The

Prophet would not be asked about it in the first place anyway2) The hadith in fact is not about whether Bismillah is allowed or not, rather that you should not be

suspicious be of other Muslims. The context of the hadith shows us that saying bismillah is indeed very important but we do not have to go spying on other Muslims to find out and if they make a mistake, it is between them and Allah. The scholars said that this hadith should be used to prove that we should think the best of other Muslims and not spy on them. People who use this hadith usually disregard the ending which tells us that these people were actually converts to Islam and


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not Christians or Jews so the Sahaba were unsure if these new converts knew that saying Bismillah was wajib and than if they said it or not

3) Sacrifice is not a religious act but rather a worldly act (this is the main argument of the Shafis)Refutation: Allah mentions often in the Quran of sacrifice being an act of worship. [Al-Kauthar: 2] Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice (to Him only)

4) “When Allah allowed us to eat their meat, surely He knows how they are sacrificing (i.e. not saying Bismillah), so who is anyone to add more conditions?”This is the most difficult to refute without knowledge of Usul-al-fiqh. When Allah says in the Quran, [Ma’idah] The food of those who have been given the book was made permissible to you and that Allah knows how they sacrifice, therefore, we do not have to ask questions of Allah and can just eat of their food.Refutation: These are using general and not specific verses. It is not good enough to assume that being the people of the book is satisfactory enough. Allah has indeed given a concession, but if all of the other conditions are met (the meat is slaughtered by the above 5 conditions), then the meat of a Christian or Jew can be eaten.

Problems with this view: In many Christian lands, what about how they do not kill the animal by slaughtering it but beat it to dead. If the animal is electrocuted and it dies, the meat is not allowed for Muslims but ahl-al-kitab will eat of it.A refutation of this view using the command of not eating pork

The people of the book eat Pork – TRUE – so why would Allah unconditionally allow us to eat their meat and than say that Pork is Haraam for us (when Allah does know how they would sacrifice? As the Shafis say) This shows that there must be additional conditions atop than for Ahl-ul-Kitaab meat

But the Shafi’is retain that the meat of Ahlul-kitaab is halaal if it meets their shari’ah (not ours) – and of those conditions is a proper sacrifice with the name of Allah or their language of God

Christians: don’t use “in the name of Jesus”Jews: have a very specific invoking of the name of Allah as well

YQ: Without any doubt whatsoever, the 5 conditions are met in our times today in Kosher meat (this does not apply to Kosher gelatin however)

5) The verses of al-Mai’dah abrogate the verses of al-An’amThe verses of Maidah are those that allow us to eat the meat of Ahl-al-Kitab. The verses of An’aam are to not eat the meat over which Allah`s name was not mentioned/only eat the meat over which Allah’s name has been mentioned.

The Shafi’is argue that 1) The verses of An’aam only apply to the Muslims that are slaughtering. 2) That Maidah’s verses are one of the last ayahs to ever be revealed and thus they abrogate the verses

of An’aam. The other three madhahib counter-argue that abrogation is the last resort, and you never use abrogation when you can reconcile (a principle from usual al fiqh). Also, there is no need to resort to abrogation because we can reconcile. When an ahl al kitab person says bismillah, we can eat their meat. Also, abrogation can not occur in a factual statements and is only allowable when it comes to laws. “Eating such meat is a sin” (as


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mentioned in An’aam) is not a law but a statement of fact. You cannot abrogate a statement of fact; therefore, there is no such abrogation.

The other three madhahib are asked: To what than do the verses in Mai’dah (that allow us to meat the people of the book) apply? They respond: Allah is referring to when these five conditions are met. The meat upon this is done in our times is kosher or equivalent. It is a fundamental mistake to equate kosher with the meat available in the marketplace. Furthermore The Christians and Jews do not have to say Allah because they believe in the same God as we do and can say in the name of God. The reason why there is a concession for ahl al kitab is because they believe in the same God we do.

Conclusion by YQ on the issue of the Tasmiyah YQ follows opinion #2 (obligatory to say the Tasymiyah and forgiven if forgotten to)YQ: The evidences presented are not very strong – there is nothing explicit to go against saying Bismillah. We asked Sheikh Uthaymeem about North America and how they don’t say Bismillah – and he answered if you know this for a fact than the meat is haraamFurthermore Ibn-Qayyum speakers about the benefits of saying Bismillah….

Ibn Qayyum’s (d.751) Psycho-Spiritual Comment..

Wisdom behind saying bismillah

Ibn al-Qayyum writes, regarding animals that are slaughtered in other than Allah’s name. “this slaughtering gives the slaughtered animal a type of filth that necessitates its prohibition. For mentioning the name of idols, or starts, or jinns over the slaughtered animal gives it’s a type of filth.. while mentioning the name of Allah alone causes it to acquire purity. And Allah has made the (animals) over which His name has not been mentioned fisq, and that is filthy. There is no doubt that mentioning the name of Allah alone causes it to acquire a purity. There is no doubt that mentioning the name of Allah over a slaughtered animal purifies it, and expels Shaytan both from the one sacrificing and the animal that is sacrificed. So if the name of Allah is not mentioned, Shaytan remains a part of [both] the one who sacrifices and the animal that is sacrificed, which in turn causes a type of filth in the animal. And Shaytaan runs through the blood veins of the animals.. so when Allah’s name is mentioned by the slaughter, Shaytaan is expelled along with the blood, thus purifying the slaughtered animal. And if Allah’s name is not mentioned, the filth is not expelled And if the name of other than Allah is mentioned, from the devils or idols, this causes the animals to acquire yet another type of filth. And slaughter is a type of worship, which explains why Allah pairs the two together, as in, “So pray to your Lord and sacrifice to Him” and “Say ‘My prayer, and sacrifice, and life, and death are only for Allah, Lord of the Worlds’ and, “And we have made the sacrificed animal from the signs of Allah, you have much good in it. So mention the name of Allah over it as they are lined up, and when their sides fall, than eat of it, and feed the indignant and the deprived…” So Allah informed us that He has given ownership and power over those animals to those who mention Allah’s over it, and that through it one can achieve taqwa, and that is coming closer to Him through it and mentioning Allah’s name over it. So if Allah’s name is not mentioned over it, than it would be prohibited to eat, and would be despised..”

I’lam al-muwaqqi’in v.2, p.154


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How do modern scholars of madhaahib reconcile with the views of their madhahib’s classical scholars? Generally the madhaahib have retained the views of their respective madhabs..

Hanafis – follow their classical Madhabi views Shafis – follow their classical Madhabi views. Today Syrians, Egyptians (including Al-Azhar) say outside food is Halaal to eat. Sheikh Qaradawi has said that such meat is halaal to eat Hanbalis – Sheikh Ibn Baz, the fatwa committee – have all said that in Saudi imported meat is not allowed Some Malikis scholars - For the Muslims the condition is there, for the Ahlul-kitaab the conditions are not required

SUMMARYWhen it comes to eating meat available in publix, mcdonalds, kfc etc – there are 4 issues to think about:

1.Is it permissible to say that America is a Christian nation such that we assume the people in the slaughter houses are Christian? SQ: Yes, but the same can’t be said in Europe e.g. in Denmark 70% say they are atheists

2.The issue of the stunning of the animal Chickens electrocuted and the cows get a stun-bullet to the head The brain is demolished and the cow trembles – we say this is torture (which is makruh but does not affect the validity of the meat) It is perfectly ok to assume that chicken is alive when knife cuts the throat, but the problem comes with larger animals such as cows

1) That a work may stun 10 cows at a time, and then returns to the first for their necks – there is no guarantee that the cow will remain alive. Often the man may go to lunch and return for the necks of their cows. In these cases clearly the cow may be dead.

2) The Second issue with cows is that the slit is being made in a vertical fashion rather than the horizontal

3. The issue of the bismillahIf you follow opinion (1) and (2) that saying Tasmiyah is an obligation (1) or saying Tasmiyah is an obligation and forgiven if forgotten (2) - Any of this meat is haraam to you and the evidences are very clear

4.Cleanliness of slaughterhouse and the modification of meats That the animals being fed harmones, or that the blade may have had najis (pig) on it – this is a non-issue because you will wash the meat anyway -Further comments by SQ…

The distinction between Halaal and Zabeeha is nonsensical – no such thing as Halaal AND Zabeeha or Halaal and Non-Zabeeha…Shafis: an animal is halaal and zabihah if 1. Slaughtered at neck, 2. Slaughtered by a Muslim, Christian or Jew For the non-Shafis: All 5 conditions must be met for it to be halaal and zabeeha..thus from a A fiqh perspective can’t say something is halaal and not zabeeha and vice versa


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Problems with the meat issue have taken on much cultural tension.. Those who eat zabihah only feel like they are being left out. Conversely those who eat non-zabihah have an element of guilt and must defend their habits constantly. Solution: Educating the Muslims that there is a classical difference of opinion, and that whoever is strictZabihah get their reward from Allah, and those that don’t shouldn’t be on the defensive E.g. YQ follows the zabihah position (2)Yasir Birjas follows the chicken-halaal position (3)But both follow a position on the classical schools and both go out together and eat.

For more on the views of SQ vs Sheikh Yasir Birjas, see their debate on the Halaal meat issue:

“Zabihah (Halaal Meat) Debate” Part 1 of 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f69GD27wDw

“Zabihah (Halaal Meat) Debate” Part 2 of 2http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mvRHjcVkfc&feature=relmfu

Today there is a real problem with the Halaal meat industry in that Muslim butchers follow dubious practices… Muslim businessmen selling non-halaal meat to Muslims as halaal meat. Today we definitely need national bodies that certify halaal butchers

Large scale meat processing plants present unique issues…The issue of the Bismillah is the largest issue in these plants. There is a 120 chickens/min capacity for some of these plants, so how do you say Bismillah on each animal? There are a wide range of opinions on this matter: There is an opinion that the person who turns on the machine should say Bismillah, and another opinion that it should be said again at the end. There are other opinions that with every slaughter the Bismillah must be said. Sh. Abdul-Nana believes that hand-slaughtered chicken are definitely possible, as he observed in South Africa how 20-30 chickens/min are possible only for slaughtering and then the machines do the rest YQ: I don’t have an answered, but we need ijtihaad and see what we can do YQ: At least the intention is there and so he does eat meat from large scale processing plants

Questions:How cautious should you be when you go to someone’s house? A delicate issue, try cracking a joke to find out

Is kosher more halaal than halaal?SQ: Yes, Jewish accreditation and standards are better than the Muslim When Jews sacrifice, they must have a Rabbi who witnesses the slaughter with the Butcher But there is a grey area – the Rabbi will bless a group of animals at a time rather than a single one. This is where some of the stricter opinions will say this is problematic- but the valid response: Muslim fiqh books mention that if you shoot an arrow and it kills 2 birds though you intended 1, it is ok


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How do the Shafis understand the verses of Al-Anaam?Al-Anaam – “..do not eat the meat over which Allahs name has not been mentioned” – they say 1) this applies to naturally dead animals while the majority says it is for the this and for meat, 2) it applies to Muslims onlyThere are no mentions of their Tasmiyah and the exceptions exist with the Ahl-ul-Kitaab by Allah to make things easy for the Muslims

If you follow the Zabihah position – is eating non-zabihah haram?Yes, Al-Anaam 21- “do not eat the meat over which Allahs name has not been mentioned because it is a sin” Are we saying that this is worse than eating pork? No


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SECTION 3: MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES

i.e. The non-meats SQ: The majority of books that are in circulation on food are not authentic and are too cumbersome. Small rules from our shari’ah can be applied to make our rulings easier.

If you know the following (3) rules than you can apply them to all foods; foods keep changing, you yourself can apply these to new items…

1.The Status of Alcohol (i.e. products with small amounts of alcohol)

The issue of alcohol is crucial when it comes to products in North America. The problem is thatpeople have mixed up organic chemistry with Shari’ah. In organic chemistry, alcohol is anythingwith an –OH (a substance ending with “-ol”) radical. The chemical definition has little to do with the Shari’ah definition. In other words, it does not mean that an, “alcohol” chemical substance is equivalent to the Islamic concept of khamar. The Islamic definition of khamar is, “that which intoxicates” and not all alcohols intoxicate thus we can’t say that all alcohols are not allowed in Islam. In those alcohols that do intoxicate, Ethanol is the main one.

INGESTING ALCOHOL

As for ingesting alcohol --- The Prophet said: Whatever intoxicates in large quantities is prohibited in small quantities [Al-Nisaai]

Large quantities here means 15-20 glasses or whatever a human being can consume Small quantities means even a drop

This means literally that if something does not intoxicate at large quantities, it is permissible in small quantities. Thus even at the molecular level, grape juice will contain alcohol – but this is ok. The same applies to Vanilla ice cream

Two issues here…1. Small amounts that do affect taste even if it don’t intoxicate are haraam because of this ruleFood cooked in wine is haraam due to the taste

Does alcohol evaporate with cooking? No, why would they add alcohol if the taste does not have an effect?

Would you know if they add alcohol in foods at restaurants?Yes because they charge more usually so you know as they want to impress you. This is not the rule with desserts and in these cases we should definitely ask about alcohol before consuming them.

2. For alcohol with ethanol (used as a transporter) used for medicinal purposes; our rules are more lax E.g. cough syrup, dynatab Ethanol in this case acts as a transporter i.e. no one really takes these medicines for the taste


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Homeopathic tablets also have ethanol- it is possible to swallow the entire container and you won’t get high Thus for medicinal purposes we will be lax when ethanol is used as a solvent

A counter argument: A Bedouin came to The Prophet and asked if one should drink alcohol for medicine – the Prophet answered no

But the interpretation of the hadith is that the Bedouin was drinking alcohol itself to get intoxicated but not as a medicine When used as medicines, we should still try our best to find equivalent substitutes

YQ: Such medicines are makruh and not haraam

Summary-- Anything that has ethanol for medicinal purposes as a solvent is makruh (and not haraam as our rules are more lax in these cases ) Anything that has the taste of alcohol even if small is haraam For foods that have small amounts of alcohol in them such as vanilla ice cream; as long as they do not intoxicate in large amounts they are allowed

APPLYING ALCOHOL EXTERNALLY

Two opinions…

OPINION 1. Khamar is Najis and therefore can NOT be applied externally I.e. It is not allowed to be used as creams, mouthwash, soaps, shampoos etc This opinion has been followed by all 4 madhaahib; the Hanafis, Hanbalis, Shafis and Malikis for the last 14 centuries

Evidences 1) The strongest evidence is directly from the Quran [Mai’dah: 90]O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.

2) The command to wash dishes of Ahl-al-Kitaab because they drink wine and eat pork A question was asked of The Prophet, “O Messenger of Allah, we live in a land of Jews and Christians, can we use their utensils? The Prophet said that if you do not have any other choice, than wash them first.

The Majority say that the Prophet told us this because they eat pork and drink wine. The command to wash shows that because they drink wine it must be najis to be washed off

3) Prohibited very clearly in multiple situations and in the strictest terms The Prophet said: “Allah has cursed Kham, the one who drinks it, the one who pours it for others, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who makes it, the one who it is made for, the one who carries it, the one who it is carried to and the one who consumes the money from its sale.” [Sunan Ibn-Majah]


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4) It is a pure drink of Jannah, thus must be the opposite in this life Ihsan (21): In Jannah they will be given to drink a pure, tahur (the highest level of purity) wineWhy would Allah talk about the pure wine except that it must be impure in the duniya, and tahur is the opposite of najis

OPINION 2. Khamar is NOT Najis and can be applied externallyI.e. Everything with ethanol is permitted – shampoos, creams, make-up types etc

This opinion is followed by a very minority of scholars but these are scholoars that are very well known through-out history) including: Rabia’ Rabi (teacher of imam malik)Al-muzani (the main stdnt of shafi)Dawud Dhahiri (founder of the Dhahiri madhab)As-SamaniAsh-ShowkaniSiddique Hasan Khan (founder of Ahlul-Hadith movement)Ahmed Shakir of EgyptSheikh Uthaymeem… and many fiqh councils of our times take this opinion YQ follows this opinion as well

So how do we reconcile with the above evidences? The evidences above are thus countered by those who follow Opinion 21) [Mai’dah: 90]O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah ], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.Are arrows, gambling, idols all najis i.e. do they break your wudu? No – they are indeed filthy spiritually but not physically and this is why Allah uses the term rijis (spiritually filthy) and not najis

2) The command to wash dishes of Ahl-al-Kitaab because they drink wine and eat pork: O Messenger of Allah, we live in a land of Jews and Christians, can we use their utensils? The Prophet said that if you do not have any other choice, than wash them first. The Majority say that the Prophet told us this because they eat pork and drink wine. Again we are talking about physical external application (NOT ingesting) and the hadith does not apply because this deals with eating and drinking

3) Prohibited in the strictest of terms – in all capacities – hence it must be termed Najasa. The Prophet said: “Allah has cursed Kham, the one who drinks it, the one who pours it for others, the one who sells it, the one who buys it, the one who makes it, the one who it is made for, the one who carries it, the one who it is carried to and the one who consumes the money from its sale.” (Sunan Ibn-Majah: 3380) Prohibitions have nothing to do with this again, we are talking about applying alcohol physically again

4) It is a pure drink of Jannah, thus must be the opposite in this life


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Ihsan (21): In Jannah they will be given to drink a pure, tahur (the highest level of purity) wineThe categorizations of liquids are not just that of najis and tahoor; rather there is a middle third: Taahir is the middle-ground (Taahir is like pepsi, milk and orange juice)Thus what remains for the wine on Earth – it is either Taahir or Najis

And so now came the counter to the counter– do you have evidence it is Taahir and not Najis? Those who follow Opinion 2 said Yes, When Khamar was made haraam – the Sahaba broke the bottles and poured it into the streets so much that for 3 days people were walking in wines to the masjid and so on.

It is not allowed to throw najis in places where people walk! But here you saw people walking with wine on their clothes and feet and in those days they’d pray at the masjid with their shoes on (with the wine on their feet). Thus clearly Wine must be Taahir and not Najis.

YQ: While I usually prefer to go with the majority (in this case that applying Khamar externally is NOT allowed), The above is evidence is a very strong evidence, and thus the strongest opinion thus is that ethanol and khamar are not haraam to apply externally. Today many fiqh-councils are re-thinking this issue. We cannot live in the modern world without being exposed in some form to products with khamar as part of them.

2.Chemical Changes (istihala)

A substance that undergoes a full chemical change; changes from being najis to being taahir i.e. a drastic change such that the resulting substance is not the same as the original (the fiqh definition) e.g. The carcass in the sun after 2 months rots and becomes fertilizer Is the fertilizer najis now? Two opinions….

OPINION 1. Chemical change does not purify except in 2 circumstancesMalikis, Shafis, Hanbalis follow take this opinion

Where does this apply in our practical lives? E.g. if we extract pig tissue, than change it chemically; is the final product still najis? Yes except… 1) Vinegar 2) The tanning of leather skin (Hanbalis do not take this opinion)

What is vinegar? Uncorked wine Every production of vinegar goes through wine! Thus a chemical transformation that results in vinegar is halaal according to all scholars of Islam even though the intermediary is haram (wine)

The evidences for Vinegar and Tanned leather skin Vinegar: The Prophet came home and asked what is there to eat, and all he found was vinegar – he dipped the bread in it and he ate it The Prophet was given vinegar and said, “What a good condiment is vinegar” [Muslim] clearly showing that it is Halal


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Leather skin: The Prophet passed by the skin of a dead animal- he asked the people why they didn’t tan it, and when they said no he said that any skin when tanned becomes pure

All goat, camel, sheep leather is halaal What about pig skin? Majority- pig skin is najis, minority: pig skin is not najis

Remember that carrion (the decaying flesh of dead animals) is najis, but it can be used as leather skin once tanned

OPINION 2. Any chemical change purifies an impure substanceHeld by – Hanafis, Dhahiris, some Malikis, Ibn Taymiyyah and the position of anyone with biochemistry education todayReally just thinking about sciences will allow us take this view, how?

Basic chemistry states that everything recycles on this Earth The same carbon molecular that was in a pig will be in you, than a tree and than in soil and so it

will recycle through-out this earthThe worst of Najis (feces) is used as fertilizer grows into plants and is used by the animals that we

humans than consume. If a pig that decomposes to soil we won’t call the soil najis – so the initial product is NOT the same as

the final product Shows us how modern science can facilitate us in updating our fiqh position and the practicality of Islam

Thus when a full chemical change happens we assume the final product is halaal regardless of where the initial products came from. Partial changes do not purify an impure substance.

How do those who follow position (2) counter the evidence from position (1)?That the evidences from position 1 are not exceptions rather they are the rule: Vinegar and tanned skin

are examples that show us that a changed product is now halaal

The issue of gelatinAn odorless, tasteless substance (gello minus the flavor) found in the outer layer of bones (especially cartilage) which gives a structure. This makes it perfect to add sweets, colors and material etc, an e.g. being Jello

Source of gelatin: Taken from the ligaments and bones of horses and pigs, but in the US this becomes problematic because there are more pigs than horses in the US So is gelatin a fully chemically transformed substance from pig or not?

If yes, than the ruling of a purification from an impure substance applies – gelatin is halaal Most chemists and chemical engineers agree that gelatin does NOT undergo a complete

transformation and therefore gelatin extracted from animals is haraam

4 sources of gelatin that are Halaal: (TQ)

1.Halaal if zabihah animal2.Fish bones – this is halaal for us 3.Vegetables - today a growing demand in strict vegetarians4.Synthetic lab produced


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YQ: the #1 thing to look out for today in our diets is gelatin

What about gel caps? If you need to take it to live than you are allowed and it is forgiven but try to find an alternative. But don’t make the excuse of taking Multi-vitamins which do contain gelatin

3. Extremely small quantities of impurities (Istihlak)

The biggest misconception today amongst Muslims is with regards to this topic That a very small quantity has been absorbed into a much larger quantity E.g. a drop of urine in a swimming pool; by consensus the swimming pool does not najis The general rule that we follow: Small quantities of najasa are overlooked and so even if there are trivial amounts of najasa in the final product than we ignore this

Case StudyThe “Dorito haraam email” – YQ calculated the rennet (cheese) that is najis, Cheese itself is 99.99999% milk to begin with, thus the entire Doritos product has has 1 x 10-7 percentage of rennet in the final product! To say something that miniscule makes the entire product haraam is incorrect For further readings, visit, “Of mice and men- The Cheese Factor” By YQ – http://muslimmatters.org/2007/07/09/of-mice-and-men-the-cheese-factor/

By FDA law if the ingredients constitute a certain percentage of the product than they must be put on a packet. Haraam ingredients being mentioned on a packet do not necessarily make the food haraam, it depends on the amount that constitutes the final product.

YQ asked Uthaymeem regarding the issue of what constitutes a significant amount, the answer: The shari’ah didn’t come with numbers so use your common sense

Common questions: 1. Going to restaurants such as subway, pizza hut etc where some contamination may happen? YQ: This is getting too petty and technical. A healthy sense of skepticism is good, but taking it to the extreme makes you a fanatic

2. What about oil in which other animals have been fried?They use the same oil for the chicken as they do for the shrimp A grey area – avoidance is better The chicken is haraam but not najis

So in this case we are looking at makruh not haraam But if done with pork oil – than this is haraam and najis

3. Why are pigs haraam?Because we are commanded so; all Prophets have been sent with this message.

4.Eating vegetables from a Hindu?


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Allowed, but if it was presented to an idol it is not allowed for us to eat

5.What about Kosher gelatin?Usually NOT halaal. The issue is a very vast and extensively debated and researched matter which is beyond this course. However know that Kosher gelatin is usually not halaal.

7. What about Red and White wine vinegar?Red, white etc depicts what the intermediary stage of the wine is This is 100% vinegar and halaal

8. Beer battered shrimp?Not allowed – taste of beer in it

9. Mouthwash with ethanol?Be careful and it is still external, does it break your fast with wudhu? No – so its good

10. Glycerin The final amount is very miniscule so we can ignore it


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FIQH OF CLOTHING

What is ‘AwrahFrom the verb, “‘Awrah” meaning, “to find fault or to criticize”. The awarah is thus that which you want to cover from the public eye because you are embarrassed to show it because of it’s worthiness to criticism. ‘Awrah is a sigh of faith and modesty. When faith is gone, we will find people exposing their ‘Awrah.

Allah says in [A’araf: 26]O children of Adam, We have bestowed upon you clothing to conceal your private parts and as

adornment. But the clothing of righteousness; that is best. That is from the signs of Allah that perhaps they will remember.

What does, “bestowed upon you clothes” mean?That from the very beginning mankind was clothed. Adam came down to Earth naked so Allah

says He sent down clothes. It is part of our fitrah to be clothed. If anyone discards clothes, they are discarding the blessing of Allah.

From here we see the two benefits of clothes – to protect our chastity and to beauty ourselves YQ: Amazing how in this entire class no two people are dressed identically; everyone shows their own

personal inclinations and preferences We are the only species that wear clothes and this is part of our humanity; even the jinn do not wear

clothes

Allah criticizes the children of Adam for falling prey to Shaytaan. Allah says in [A’araf: 27]O children of Adam, let not Satan tempt you as he removed your parents from Paradise, stripping them

of their clothing to show them their private parts. Indeed, he sees you, he and his tribe, from where you do not see them. Indeed, we have made the devils allies to those who do not believe.

The Jahiliyy Arabs fell prey to the plot of Shaytaan as well as they would make tawwaf around the Ka’bah naked. Allah criticizes them in [A’araf: 28]

And when they commit an immorality, they say, "We found our fathers doing it, and Allah has ordered us to do it." Say, "Indeed, Allah does not order immorality. Do you say about Allah that which you do not know?"

The concept of shyness or modestyThe Prophet said: Shyness is a part of eman

Indeed in all cultures and civilizations, the dignified and noble people always cover themselves and vice versa for those who don’t have modesty

Bahz ibn Hakim asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah! What are we allowed to show of our awrah?” He replied, “Guard your ‘awrah except with what your wife and right-hand possession.” I asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah! What if people are tightly congested?” He said, “If you are able to hide it such that no one sees it, do so” I asked, “Oh Messenger of Allah! What if we are alone?” He replied, “Allah has more right that you be ashamed of Him than other people” [Tirmidhi]

Comments


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Wisdom: It increases arrogance in you if you are naked when alone because you do not internalize that Allah is watching you

Common sense exceptions such as going to the doctor are obvious

The position of The Shari’ah on modesty with same genders The Prophet said, “Let know man look at the awrah of another man, nor a woman at the awrah of

another woman” [Muslim]

What about other Shari’ahsThe Jews and Christians were given a concession that we were not: A man may uncover himself in front

of other men and same with women if taking a bath To this day women and men have no ‘Awrah infront of their own gender, and we should not

criticize them for this because Allah allowed this for them How does this apply to the Muslims?

The Prophet rescinded this previous legislation (see hadith above)

The Prophet’s ‘Awrah before ProphethoodWhen rebuilding the Kabah, the Prophet was 35. The Quraysh, walking to get all their rocks, had taken their clothes off and used this to carry the rocks (and it was hot). The Prophet in his modesty was covering himself with his garment. Abbass asked him to take off his garments and put the garments on his back, but as The Prophet intended to do so he fell back unconscious. When he awoke he asked for his clothes back and he never attempted this again

The Story of Musa Highlights the differences in the shari’ah of the Christians and Jews in how the rules for the ‘Awrah were more relaxed for their nations. As mentioned in the last verses of Surah Ahzab and mentioned in Sahih Muslim;

Hammam b. Munabbih reported that Abu Huraira reported many ahadith from Allah's Messenger and one of them speaks that Allah's Messenger is reported to have said: Banu Isra'il used to take bath (together) naked and thus saw private parts of one another, but Moses used to take bath alone (in privacy), and they said: By Allah, nothing prevents Moses to take bath along with us; but scrotal hernia. One day when he (Moses) was taking bath (alone) he placed his clothes upon a stone, but the stone began to move along with his clothes. Moses raced after it saying: My garment, stone ; until (some of the people) of Banu Isra'il lookedat the private parts of Moses, and they said: By Allah, there is no trouble with Moses. The stone stopped after he (Moses) had been seen. He took hold of his garments and struck the stone. Abu Huraira said that The Prophet smiled and said: I swear by Allah that there were six or seven scars on the stone because of the striking of stone by Moses (peace be upon him).

Allah comments on this story in The Quran, [Ahzab]Oh you who believe, don’t be like those who irritated Musa so Allah had to free Musa of this charge.


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Section 4: The Fiqh of Men’s Clothing

What is the ‘Awrah of men?

Two opinions…

OPINION 1: The 2 private parts – the front and the back i.e. what an underwear would cover and that the thigh is NOT part of the ‘Awrah

The opinion of Ibn Hazam and the Dhahiri madhabEvidence

1) Allah only mentions the private parts as being the ‘Awrah in the verses from Aa’raaf oh son of Adam, don’t let shaytaan tempt them as he tempted those before you, he caused them to be

exposed from Jannah and exposed their two private parts

2) Two narrations where The Prophet’s thighs were narrated to be exposed: The hadith of Jaabir ibn Abdullah as narrated in Sahih Muslim speaks of the long journey of Hajj and how The Prophet’s thigh was exposed while riding the camel.

…. And I was riding on the camel of the Prophet and I could see the whiteness of his thigh…

Once The Prophet was lying at Aisha’s house and his lower garment was open and his thighs were visible. Abu Bakr asked permission to enter, and than Ummar, The Prophet gave them permission and they came in and sat. When Uthman asked permission for to enter, the Prophet asked him to wait, than covered his thighs before Uthman was allowed in. The Prophet later explained: should I not have shame from a person that the angels have shame from OPINION 2: The Awrah of the man is between navel and knee

Followed by all 4 madhahib and all Sahaba; the thighs are definitely a part of the ‘Awrah.

Is the belly button included or excluded, what about the knees? YQ chooses to ignore this for now as it is trivial in his opinion

How do they respond to the evidences presented in the first opinion? Over 7-8 separate incidents when The Prophet explicitly said: The thigh is ‘Awrah – found in most

books of hadith (Dawud, Tirmidhi, Majah etc) E.g. Walking in public, The Prophet saw a beduin wearing the equivalent of basically just underwear, he

responded to the Bedouin man: Oh so-and-so, cover your thighs because the thigh are part of the ‘Awrah

But what about the verses in A’araf? Aa’raaf: oh son of adam, don’t let shaytaan tempt them as he tempted those before you, he

caused them to be exposed from Jannah and exposed their two private parts This does not specifically deny that the thighs are part of the ‘Awrah i.e. yes to the 2 should not be

uncovered but so too should the thighs, Allah has not mentioned otherwise

And what about the two ahadith of The Prophet’s thighs being exposed?


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Jaabir ibn Abdullah, SM, the hadith of the Hajj of The Prophet (sallalAllahu 'alayhi wa'lay was-salam a long hadith of The Prophet in Hajj

…. And I was riding on the camel of the Prophet and I could see the whiteness of his thigh… Once The Prophet was lying at Aisha’s house and his lower garment was open and his thighs

were visible. Abu Bakr asked permission to enter, and than Ummar, and they came in and sat. When Uthman asked permission for it, the Prophet asked him to wait, than covered his thighs before Uthman was allowed in. The Prophet explained: should I not have hayah from a person that the angels have hayah of

1) These are special for him and him alone and not usE.g. that he had multiple wives Whenever his actions contradict his statements, we follow the statements of The Prophet

2) In all these scenarios, he never intentionally exposed his thighs – i.e. for Hajj he left his house with his thighs covered and in such a long journey of weeks while riding a camel it is likely that his thighs could have been accidently exposed at some point.

3) An alternate narration of the Uthman hadith mentions that the shins of The Prophet were exposed, not his thighs.

Furthermore, covering means:1.The garments not be transparent2.The covering must not be tight

CommentsThe ‘Awrah of salah is stricter

Men are not allowed to pray bare-chested. The upper body must be covered.

The things forbidden for men to wear:Silk and Gold The connection between gold and silver? (TQ)

Both men and women are forbidden from eating and drinking out of utensils of gold and silver As for wearing, gold and silk are halaal for women and haraam for men

Silver is allowed for men to wear The Prophet picked up silk in his right hand and gold in his left hand and said, “these two are forbidden

for the men of my Ummah and permitted for the women” [Abu Dawud]

Hudhayfah al Yaman: The Prophet forbade us from eating and drinking in gold and silver utensils, and from wearing and sitting on silk [Bokhari]

Thus silk carpets are not allowed for us to sit and pray on or as a bed sheets for men

What about small amounts of silk?Small amounts of silk are allowed. What is not allowed is if the garment is made out of silk. The Prophet would wear garments that were decorated with patches of silk. Ibn Abbas said that the Prophet forbade wearing a garment made out of silk but there is no problem with decorating or fringes being made out of silk. At that time, there would be a simply garment with embroidery sewn on top. Umar ibn Al Kattah said the Prophet forbade wearing silk except for a finger or two or three or four.


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The issue of wearing tiesA concession of silk for men – Ties – The Prophet allowed 4 fingers of silk for men (narrated in Sahih Bokhari by Ummar). As mentioned before Ibn Abbas said that The Prophet forbade wearing of a garment made of silk, but there is no problem with embroidery or fringes of garment being made of silk So what is forbidden is an entire garment made of silk. In those days decorating a thobe meant sowing or tacking on another cloth. The silk decorations (as Ummar said – “silk is haram except for a finger or two or three or four”) are thus ok.

The conclusion, is it allowed?YQ (and most scholars today): ties are en embroidery and not a garment themselves – they

exactly serve the function and purpose that classical people did to decorate their clothes, thus it is allowed for brothers to wear ties made of 100% silk. 1) This is a beautification of your base (not the base itself) and this in modern times is the tie. 2) Most ties that are made today are synthetic silk and not from worms.

Therefore there is no question that synthetic silk has no prohibition How can you tell of the type of silk? A high price tag will tell that this is from natural silk

As for YQ? He does have a silk tie and wears it on occasion

The notion that ties represent crosses and are haraam? No such thing. Even if theoretically they did, nobody in the whole world wears ties as a sign of Christianity thus let us not become fanatical in this regard. Similar to the concept of eating croissants; originally created as a signal of the defeat of Islam in Spain by the Christians but today no one associates this with any form of religion.

Small amounts of Gold and SilverWhat about small amounts of gold and silver? Gold-plate utensils? Clothes with some gold?

Pure gold utensils are not common but pure silver are. Silver and gold plated utensils are very common.

Are silver and gold plated utensils the same as silver or gold utensils (which are clearly haraam)?There are narrations in Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud that The Prophet once wore a beautiful cloak

on Friday that had traces of gold decoration on it that were gifted to him by a Bahrain king and the people were so impressed that they walked around the Prophet looking at this garment (clearly the Arabs didn’t have this type of clothing).

Lesson: The Prophet wore the equivalent of an amazing 3 piece Italian designer suit and had no problems with it – But The Prophet at this time showed his perfection of emaan: When he saw the people were impressed, he calmed them down and showed that he was not attached to it, as he said, “verily the hankerchief of Saad ibn Muadh in Jannah is better than this garment” [Tirmidhi]

He himself did not buy it (it would be israaf or excessiveness) rather it was gifted to him. The Hanafis and Ibn-Taymiyyah used this hadith as evidence that gold plated objects (gold cuff-

links, gold-plated objects) are ok YQ takes this opinion but adds that it is best to avoid so because the people may thinking

negatively of you The other madhahib (Hanbalis, Malikis, Shafis) said that this was only unique to The Prophet

and thus no gold is allowed for menYQ: small amounts of gold, especially for medicinal purposes (such as gold teeth), are allowed


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Further evidence that gold for medicinal purposes is allowed: During a Jaahili war, a sahabi, Malik ibn Arfaja ibn Assad, had his nose cutoff and he replaced it with a fake silver nose, the Prophet allowed him to do so. The silver rusted and he asked The Prophet for a gold nose, which was also allowed.

YQ as a side-comment: It is so childish how we find gold and silver as shiny as we do- these two compounds don’t oxidize and so never dull - retaining their brightness. Because they are bright and shiny we love them as much as we do.

What about silver plated utensils than?The Prophet had a favorite cup which fell down and cracked, the silver smith who fixed it filled the crack with some silver [Bokhari]

YQ: Thus gold and silver plating does not take the same ruling as gold or silver Gold plated utensils should be avoidedSmall amounts of gold for men is a gray area – Taymiyyah and Hanafis allowed it and others don’t

Prohibited colors for menThe only that has been forbidden is a shade of red

The Prophet forbade us from wearing red – ‘Abdullah Ibn Amr came to The Prophet wearing 2 red saffron dyed garments , The Prophet said that these are the clothes of the disbelievers and should not be worn [Muslim]

Aside: This shows the excellence of the hadith of The Prophet that till this day Buddhist monks and Hindu priests wear red-saffron dyed garments as part of their dress code

Yet there are authentic ahadith of the opposite… 1)Amr Ibn Amr Al-Ansari said he saw The Prophet wearing a red clothe, he said, “I saw The Prophet deliver a sermon at Mina, on a donkey, wearing a red cloak, and Ali was in front of him repeating [the speech]” [Abu Dawud]2)In another narration, once The Prophet was giving a khutbah and Hasan and Husain came in wearing red thobes which they tripped on. If this were not allowed, clearly The Prophet would not allow his grandchildren to wear it. 3)The hadith of the sahabi who compared The Prophet to the full moon and found The Prophet more beautiful; in this hadith The Prophet was wearing a red garment

In conclusion… YQ: This is a grey area;perhaps one shade (saffron red) should be avoided out of caution

The Prophet himself wore it, his grandsons wore it and so this is a grey area According to Ibn-Taymiyyah, there are no disputes and the Prophet eventually allowed the wearing of

the color red

Colors that he liked? The Prophet loved white and was seen wearing all other colors. While was definitely his favorite color,

he would say, “clothe your living in white and clothe your dead in white” Covering the head


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The Prophet was never seen in public bare headed except in the state of ihram. He would always wear something, usually a turban However there are no authentic hadith where he commands us to wear a turban or cover our head

It can be said that wearing turbans and covering the head was a universal practice of the time amongst Roman, Persians and Arabs to cover their heads. In the US until the 60s everyone who was not a street peasant covered their hair. Uncovering the hair was a sign of humility and respect, as they did when a lady passed by. In Islam as well, all of us are required to uncover our head in a state of ihram as a sign of respect.

YQ: In Hajj when you see the kings and princes bear headed, you sense their humility and the greatness of Allah

Is it sunnah than to cover the head for men?Al-Shatibi said, “[Customs] change matters from something praiseworthy to something blameworthy,

and vice versa. For example, uncovering the head, for this is an issue that varies from place to place. In eastern lands, it is something frowned upon for people of stature [muru’a], while in Western lands it is not. Therefore the Islamic ruling on it changes from place to place, and in Eastern lands, it would be taken into account for considering someone not worthy, while this would not be the case in Western lands” [al-Muwafaqat, 2/284].

Al-Shatibi here says that what the The Prophet did out of his personal culture and habit is not binding on the community, covering the head is what all the people did at the time (Muslims and Non-Muslims), and if the culture changes than Islam thus not legislate us to cover our head

Is it haraam? No, if a brother wants to cover his head out of sunnah than this is a commendable thing. But to make it a part of Islam is wrong as there is no evidence in doing so in the Shari’ah The two types of Sunnah1. Customs of the Prophet:This includes the things the Prophet did because of the time, certain civilizations, and culture. For example: mode of transportation, cuisine, form of houses, and how he dressed.

2. Legislative Sunnah:This includes religious matter. For example, the Prophet prayed because Allah commanded him to do so.

The Issue of Isbaal i.e lowering the clothes below the ankles It comes from the Arabic verb sabala which means, “to proceed down.” It is a path or tunnel. The technical definition is to allow your garments to hang below your ankle.

The situation of the Arabs: The Arabs were extremely poor and worn clothes over the ankle for logistical reasons to protect from the dust and to make sure their garment lasts as long as possible i.e. to avoid wear and tear from the friction of their garment rubbing against the ground when they would walk. Those with wealth would show-off and flaunt it by lower their garments under their ankle such that it would even drag. Because of this the clothes would be worn-out quicker. This was a way for them to flaunt that they had many garments at home to replace them. No one lowered their garments except for the rich (the 1%) who boasted about their wealth. Therefore lowering the garments below the ankles was the easiest indication of your boasting of your wealth at the time. Thus The Prophet forbade this practice in numerous hadiths.

Thus by unanimous consensus, anyone who lowers his clothes below his ankles out of arrogance is committing a major sin


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But with subsequent generations and with increases in wealth, the length of garments increased and started to go down below the ankle. Within 2-3 generations, most people could lower their garments and it wasn’t a sign of showing off of wealth anymore.

So what if you are lowering your garments from habit and culture not out of arrogance? This is our culture today and no one in the world believes that wearing below ankles is showing off – now that the connotation is gone, the question is now asked:

Is the ruling of Isbaal linked to arrogance or is the act itself forbidden (i.e.is it independent of arrogance?)

Two opinions.... OPINION 1: The ruling is independent of arrogance and lowering the clothes below the ankles is always haraam This opinion adopted by a small minority but heavyweight scholars (including Ibn-Hajar, Ibn-Al-Arabi)

Evidence They mention 2 separate punishments – that for doing Isbaal with intention and that for doing Isbaal without intention

With intention: Ibn-Umar narrated that The Prophet said, “Whoever trails his garment out of pride, Allah will not look at him on the Day of Judgement” [Bokhari]

Without intention:Abu Hurarya narrated that The Prophet said, “Whatever is below the ankles of the izar is in the fire” [Bokhari]

OPINION 2: The ruling is It is linked to arrogance and not to the garment itself; thus in modern times lowering the clothes below the ankles is allowed This opinion adopted by the Hanafis, Shafis, Malikis, Hanbalis, Nawawi, Ibn TaymiyyahProponents of Opinion 2 take the unconditional hadith (above) as being conditional to arrogance. If the arrogance is not there than there is no sign of showing off thus the ruling does not apply in modern times. Taymiyyah however said it was makruh but not haram

EvidenceHold the above hadith narrated by Umar and take it to context – 1) Abu Bakr said, “One of the sides of my garments drags [below] the ankles unless I protect myself against that” The Prophet replied, “You don’t do that out of arrogance” [Bokhari]

Proponents of OPINION 1 counter that the hadith above cannot be used because Abu Bakr did so without intention and none of us can compare ourselves to the level of Abu Bakr and this was specific to him alone

OPINION 2: The Prophet gave us a general rule here: the prohibition is linked to the pride and showing off and not linked to doing it unconditionally

2)Many salaf were narrated to do this for a valid reasonOnce Iman Abu Hanifa was wearing a long garment and his student asked “aren’t we not allowed to do

this?” To this he answered that they are not ones who do I out of pride


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Even at the time of Abu Hanifa, the Muslims dressed like we do today. From here it is clear that these generations began wearing clothes below their ankles.

Ibn Masud was one of the originals who narrated the hadith lowering a long garment out of pride but was seen wearing a garment that went below the ankles. He was asked about this and answered: I am a man with skinny legs (a deformity in his legs – they would curve) and children would make fun of me; and so he covered it up. Even the Sahaba in one instance made fun of his legs in one instance when he was climbing a tree, to which The Prophet replied, “Do you laugh at his legs? Wallahi they are heavier in the eyes of Allah than the mountain of Uhud!”

This clearly shows us that the prohibition is NOT linked to lowering below the ankles unconditionally but rather out of arrogance

Abu Hurayra did the same – answered he was not doing it out of pride Imam Shafi said, “It is not permissible to let the garment hang below the ankles in prayer or outside of

prayer in order to show off. As for wearing the garments below the ankles for other than this, this is not a big deal”

Imam Nawawi and the students of Ibn Taymiyyah said something similar Abu Ayub Sikhtiani had a long garment going all the way down - when asked, he answered: once upon

a time fame was reached (showing off was done) by lowering the garments, in our times fame is reached by raising the garments (TQ)

YQ: the opinion of the vast majority is the stronger one: that this ruling is linked to arrogance and NOT the action of lowering the garment itself. Unfortunately today the minority position has become the majority position.

THE BEARD

Is there a basis for the beard in the Quran? No real basis however there are some weak evidences

In the Quran, Allah says And We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.[Israa: 70]Many of the scholars comment that this honor is that men have been given beards and women long hair

In the Quran, Allah says: [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, 'You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.' "

Scholars mention how Aaron tells Musa not to seize him by his beard. Some scholars say that this is Quranic evidence for growing the beard as we are required to follow the way of The Prophets. This however is also weak evidence.

However there are clear proofs from The Prophet regarding the beard:Aisha narrates that The Prophet said: Ten matters are from the fitra, trimming the moustache, leaving

the beard to grow, brushing the teeth, cleansing the nose with water, trimming the nails, washing the joints


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between fingers, plucking underarms, circumcision, shaving the pubes – one narrator added: I forgot the tenth, unless it was – washing the mouth with water [Muslim, Bokhari]

YQ: Look at the above commandments except the beard – if you didn’t clean your teeth or trim your nails how would you feel? That growing the beard as mentioned in this list is definitely a very natural act

The Prophet said: Allah has honored men with beards, and women with long hair Today surveys shows that men with beard are given more respect (and have a more

authoritative look) and women with long hairs the same

The Prophet said: Be different from the mushriks, let the beard grow and trim the moustache. Narrated by Ibn Ummar [Bokhari]

Again when the Prophet commands us, it is not culture anymore and now a part of our shari’ah The pagans would let both moustache and beard grew

Ibn-Ummar when performing Hajj would hold his beard with fist and whatever left would be trimmed

Did the Prophet trim his beard?There are no authentic ahadith for this (except a very weak one mentioned in Tirmidhi). The Sahaba

narrated that his beard was so long that when he would lead prayer they would see his beard from the space between his chest and arms.

Al Ahna Ibn Qais was a scholar from Turkiministan who was beardless as he couldn’t grow it – he would lament this fact and say, “how I would give a 100,000 gold coins if I could have a beard..”

So what exactly is a beard?The Arabic is Lihya, from “Laha” or the jawbone – therefore Lihya is that which grows on the jawbone

The jaw is….? The teeth area and the vast majority include the bones going down to the jaw i.e. the hair at the lower cheek bones going to the jawbone

The hair below the eyes and on the throat is not part of the Lihya (this by unanimous consensus)What about the area below the chin and above the throat? A difference of opinion

Based on this, some people only have a goatee (called it Lihya) – they follow the minority that hair on lower cheek bone is not part of lihya

An interview with YQ about the beard:http://muslimmatters.org/2008/11/24/the-beard-story-exclusive-interview-with -yasir-qadhi/

Opinions of Scholars regarding keeping a beard 1.It is wajib to grow a beard The opinion of the Shafis, Hanafis, Hanbalis, Malikis and Dhahiris

Ibn Hazm: There is unanimous consensus that it is required to grow the beard The Prophet explicitly said – grow the beard and trim the moustache

What amount is a Muslim allowed to trim? – There are 8 opinions (a wide spectrum ranging from haraam to makruh)

1.It is haraam to trim the beard in any fashion or form If one hair goes extra long, if one side if bushy, if it goes to stomach – you do NOT touch it


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Unknown position in the past – yet a grand mufti today holds this opinion

2.It is makruh to trim the beard everClassical Shafis position and Imam Shafi’s

3.It is permissible to trim more than a fistful in Hajj and Umrah That it must be 1.more than fistful and 2. Only during Hajj and Umrah Some Shafis scholars say this

4.Permissible to trim more than fistful at any time Ibn Taymiyyah

5.Mustahab to trim more than fistfulHanafis

Also interpret the moustache diff from others; if Hanafi you must shave the moustache (not trim as The Prophet said) – the difference here lies in the interpretation of the Arabic for, “trimming the moustache”

6.Mustahab to trim if it becomes an object of pride and fameMalikis

7. Wajib to trim after fistful (and sinful if not)Unknown before, but today a popular scholar said and did this

8.Permissible to trim to a reasonable lengthI.e. what is culturally acceptable today in our time and place This is YQ’s opinion

YQ: Had a beard in Middle-east which was very long as he was in the company of scholars. At Yale he did not see the need for a beard going to the stomach or chest. “In the Shari’ah we must look dignified within it’s bounds”. YQ adds that many brothers grow the beard because they feel it is sunnah should still keep it dignified as in this society not combing and being un-kept is not considered healthy and respectable.

Recommended to have a bigger beard? YQ - Sure but can not be haram to trim it down. As long as you have a beard you have met the

condition of The Prophet that you are growing a beard. Even having a 1-2 trimmer size beard is ok

2.It is recommended (mustahab) to grow a beard, and shaving it is makruh The position of late Shafis scholars Imam Shafi himself explicitly states that it is wajib to grow a beard, but Al-Ghazzali and Al-Rafi (2 of the 3 architects of the Shafi madhab, Imam Nawawi was the third) issued a fatwa that it is makruh to shave and mustahhab to grow the beard.

AL-Azhar is very Shafi and today standard Shafis have this view YQ: like the meat issue, if someone believes that it is not waajib and are following this position than it is not my right to force them to grow a beard, we should not go into fanatical extremes. People judge a person’s emaan by the length of their beard, and consider the beard to be the biggest problems of the Ummah


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YQ as an aside: A 20 year old man today will see an 80 year old who dedicated his entire life for building the masjid, and the 20 year old learns one hadith and believes he is more knowledgeable. Small amounts of knowledge can be very dangerous. The ummah has greater issues to deal with than this.

Etiquettes of maintaining the beardThe Prophet had a full beard and told us to take care of it in a healthy manner. He would oil his beard, comb it and put henna on the beard It is thus very important to have a well-kept beard

What about the white hairs? Makruh to pluck the white hairs which The Prophet said will be a light on the Day of Judgement Either haraam or makruh for a man to dye his hair black without a valid reason (an example of a valid reason includes to going for jihad and dyeing the hair black to look young to make the enemy scared)Sunnah to dye the white beard with henna or other non-black colors

The father of Abu Bakr, Abu Kahafa was in his 90s and his beard was as white as a pigeon’s tail. The Prophet told the women around him to dye his hair but avoid black. It is sunnah for a fully-white beard to be dyed with henna or other non-black colors.

Imitating the Opposite GenderIbn Abbas narrated that The Prophet cursed men who imitated women and women who imitated men [Bokhari]

The beauty of our shari’ah is that it only came with general guidelines and not examples for what constitutes femininity and masculinity. Indeed imitation of women for men (and vice versa) changes from time to time and culture to culture

YQ: We can memorize the rule and apply it with time and culture i.e. with proper context e.g. for certain tribes in Africa, men wear jewelry but it is a very particular masculine jewelry which women can not wear.

It is thus possible that a ruling will be haraam for one culture to be halaal for another and that a ruling may change over time.

The wearing a wristwatch was considered the essence of feminity in the 18th and 19th century; men would have pocket watches and women would have wrist-watches. Wrist watches only became fashionable amongst men when WW1 pilots wore them. Today pilot watches still have a sexual appeal to them and WW1 pilot watches are much sought after. At the time they were not made of metal because that was considered feminine but today this has changed. Watches are analogous to bracelets, something which was once not culturally acceptable for a man to wear. Thus rulings change with culture and time. Is it thus completely halaal to wear bracelets for men. What about earrings for men?

YQ: Should avoid earrings, the bracelet is not sinful as there are masculine bracelets. There may be a time when it becomes a cultural norm and not be as much of a grey area

One way to judge what is allowed and what isn’t is to look at most respected people in society. Today would a president have an earring? E.g. of the hat industry: John F Kennedy was the first ever president to run without his hair covered – he single-handedly caused the crash of the hat industry.

Imitating Other Cultures


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What about the notion of imitating non-Muslims?Narrated by Ibn Ummar, The Prophet said: Whoever imitates a nation is one of them [Abu Dawud]

I.e. if you are part of a culture you imitate them. This becomes problematic if you are imitating something unique to a Non-muslims kuffar or if you are doing something non-shari’ah compliant e.g. celebrating Christmas or dressing like a monk or priest

YQ: The problem that 2nd -3rd generation immigrants face is that it is difficult to grasp that we are North Americans – the way we think, speak and the accents that we deny our American-ness in itself shows that we are Americans

YQ: I can connect more with a 2nd gen Arab than a 1st gen Pakistani – the backgrounds are similar – now that we are a part and parcel of this land, it is not prohibited for us to act out this culture

Ibn Qayyum: The sunnah of the Prophet was to dress in accordance with the custom and culture of his people and therefore the sunnah for other Muslims is to dress like the culture of their own peoples as long as it is in conformity with the shari’ah

A popular quote: Home is not where your grandparents came from, but where your grandchildren will die

Through-out history when Islam spread across the globe Muslims retained their cultures. Islam did not affect their cuisines, clothes, cultures etc, so why should this not be the case in America?

Allah sent prophets that spoke like them, dressed like them, and looked like them; the beautiful wisdom behind this is that if they were of that culture they would be more likely to accept the Dawah.

Imitating the kuffar has some basis in shari’ah – a scholar said that it is ok to wear pants and shirts because he was imitating his own culture and did not oppose it. Abdullah Ibn Amar came to the Prophet wearing Saffron dyed garments. The Prophet answered: These clothes are the clothes of disbelievers, so do not wear them

The Prophet brought about a moral, ethical, political revolution! Did he bring about a fashion revolution? Not at all. In The Battle of Badr you would not be able to tell the camp of Abu Jahl from the camp of the Muslims

Today in America Muslims must realize that we are creating our own unique culture. YQ: It is healthy to have an American-Islamic fashion – create a fashion that is Islamic yet American. E.g. we like loose clothing, and so we should have a loose shirt. We also want to have our ‘Awrah covered (when praying) so our culture should have shirts that are loose and longer. With the sisters, Muslims have always had healthy diversity – Saudi Hijaabs are not Nigerian are not Malaysian Hijaabs. And what about dressing up? The Prophet wore a garment that the king gave him, and this is completely halaal as long as it is not in your heart, and The Prophet was the best of examples

Imitating the Clothes of the ProphetSo is it sunnah to dress like the Prophet? No

YQ: you are picking and choosing from the non-legislated sunnah Your house, lifestyles are very American; try to live in a 10x10 mud-house, eat Barley, eat meat for 2

months – this is the sunnah than if you want to adopt the non-legislated sunnahs in your life. YQ: This inherently leads to a sense of self-piety, looking down upon others, and picking and choosing what is best for you. It is not of the legal sunnah to imitate the sunnah in clothing Ibn Qayyum emphasized that the real sunnah is to dress like the culture of the people

So an argument can be made that suit and tie and pants and jeans is more sunnah in America And what about wearing a fancy thobe?


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The Prophet never wore a nice garment, his clothes were very rough, so than that fancy thobe would be in reality far removed from the non-legislated sunnah

Ibn Al Qayyum said, “The custom of The Prophet with regards to clothing was that he would wear whatever Allah had facilitated from him of the clothes of his people (so he would wear a qamis, a turban, an izar, a shawl). And he would wear cotton and wool. And other garments and he would also wear that was imported from Yemen and other lands. So his sunnah actually necessitates that a man should wear whatever Allah has facilitated fro him in his land, even if it be more luxurious (than this)…” [Zad al-Ma’ad, 1/143]

Israf Vs ZuhdIsraf means arrogance and Zuhd means living a simple life – Islam forbids Israf and encourages Zuhd

The Prophet said, “Do you not hear?! Do you not hear?! Al-Badhadha (living a simple life) is a part of faith, al-badhadha is a part of faith” [Abu Dawud]

Israaf is relative – Israaf is judged by individu’aal to individu’aal basis depending on the socioeconomic status of the person. For a man making a million dollars – a jag or Mercedes or a watch that is $10,000 is ok. A middle class person trying to purchase a Mercedes is making a statement. Halaal for this person to live according to his means, but the simpler he lives the more reward he will get

Making a statement with your clothes is considered Haraam, as Allah says in the Quran: Worship Allah and join none with Him in worship, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, Al-

Masakin (the poor), the neighbour who is near of kin, the neighbour who is a stranger, the companion by your side, the wayfarer (you meet), and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Verily, Allâh does not like such as are proud and boastful; [An-Nisaa: 36]

The best of ZuhdIs the example of The Prophet when he wore the fanciest of thobes (gifted to him) yet had none of that

attached to his heart (hadith mentioned previously)

Muru’a vs ShuhraMuru means being dignified and Shuhra means to look flamboyant – Islam encourages Muru’a and encourages ShuhraThe Prophet said, “Allah is beautiful and loves beauty”

It is thus important for us to look presentable Looking like a fool does not make our religion look any better

YQ: I’d spend more money just so that I could look dignified for the sake of Islam – I symbolize a Muslim cleric in academia

Contextual evidences: The Prophet saw a man dressed shabbily, asked, “has Allah given you money?” The man answered:

“Yes, tons” The Prophet said: “ When Allah has blessed one with money, He loves to see it’s affects on the body”

The Prophet said: do you not hear, do you not hear? Simplicity is a part of emaan, simplicity is a part of emaan

The Prophet said: Whoever wears a thobe of Shuhra (to draw attention to him), Allah will place on him a thobe of humiliation on the Day of Judgement [Abu Dawud]


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Questions—Making Dawah?Know who you are before you make dawah- there is wisdom why the Prophet was 40 when he preached the religion

On YQ holding different opinions than Sheikh Uthaymeem?A sign of being a great student of knowledge is that disagree with your teacher because you are not The Prophet. Abu Hanifa disagreed with his own teachers and his own students disagreed with him

And on changing one’s opinions over time? There is nothing wrong with changing one’s opinions – rather this is a sign of a searching mind. Mohammed Ali’s famous quote: At 50, if I had the same positions as I had when I was 20, it is as if I wasted 30 years.

YQ: It is natural for youth to think in black and white and with age you will naturally mellow down and stop being as idealistic. Give yourself time and you will see this about yourself

Dressing up?The Prophet when visiting dignitaries would come he would wear his Yemeni cloak i.e. he would dress up for dignitaries – this shows that when the situation calls for it you can dress up your game


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SECTION 5: FIQH OF WOMEN’S HIJAAB

We’re living in a time when gender relationships have changed so drastically that today like never before people are arguing for a radical reinterpretation of society. Throughout history men and women have had certain responsibilities which have been firmly set. Today we are being raised at a time when Muslim brothers and sisters themselves are confused about the role of women, how should we reorient our shari’ah and fiqh? Do we discard all or not change at all? The fact is we have different roles between post-feminist western world and Islamic paradigms. The veil has become a symbol of freedom versus oppression. Women in and after World War 2 were forced to come in the work place. Before this, women didn’t even drive, not that it was illegal but it was considered very unfeminine. When the men returned after the World War, the women stayed and feminism became widespread. There are 3 forms of feminism, the latest of which was that women can do as they wish. Religions have changed to “accommodate” women like never before; in all Christian sects (except Catholics) and even Orthodox Jews have let women become religious leaders. Never before in the history of humanity has any society argued for equal rights for women. This is a completely new phenomenon. Within the course of one generation we have seen such unprecedented changes.Young sisters that are born into this world think that the roles of women and men are equal, and when exposed to the Quran and sunnah they begin to see differences which make them question our traditions. How faithful can we be in our traditions and how strict can we be when it has all been washed away in society at large. While Islam is called conservative, we have the dilemma – how much do we compromise to make Islam easy while remaining faithful to our texts as much as possible. Its like you are standing in a stream (of feminism, socialism etc) and if you don’t stand your ground you will be washed away. All ultra conservative movements have now become like cults as they stand against that tide of change, looked down upon by the rest of the world and basically become irrelevant to society. Those who open up to the currents of change ignore the Quran and sunnah. Classic examples include Amina Wadud giving a khutbah as a lady. To this day there are 2-3 mosques where women lead the prayers and behind them are men and women feat to feat should to shoulder praying in the Salah. In reality the role of men and women are very different, there is no comparison. The man’s roles are not that of the woman, and the woman’s are not that of the man. Allah says in the Quran, But when she delivered her, she said, "My Lord, I have delivered a female." And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, "And the male is not like the female. And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah ]."Women are taught at a young age that they are equal to the man, yet the Quran clearly states that men are not equal to women; that men have a degree over women. Not that men are the masters or bosses of women or that they have been given the advantage by a far-reaching margin – but they are preferred by only a smaller degree. How do you preach this to anyone with societal values today? Allah says clearly in the Quran, men are 1) responsible for and 2) in-charge of women. They are also responsible for women’s spiritual well-being. Why? Because Allah has preferred the one over the other and because the one gives of the money to the other. The Quran is very clear in this regard, Divorced women remain in waiting for three periods, and it is not lawful for them to conceal what Allah has created in their wombs if they believe in Allah and the Last Day. And their husbands have more right to take them back in this [period] if they want reconciliation. And due to the wives is similar to what is expected of


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them, according to what is reasonable. But the men have a degree over them [in responsibility and authority]. And Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise. (Baqarah: 228)So where do we begin in explaining gender roles to society? There are different levels in our communities – the ultra strict that don’t let women pray at the mosque or educate versus in America where most mosques have prayer facilities for sisters even if they are sub-standard. When women come to the mosque, many men don’t want them to come, and those women who do end up coming, their dresses are chastised. This class will begin the conversation for the solution but not necessarily present it, and it is time that we acknowledge that there are major problems with gender roles. The divorce rates for Muslims are almost as high as Non-Muslims; the biggest problems being that both genders don’t have an expectation or knowledge of their roles. Media teaches genders one thing while Islam teaches something else. There is a large disparity between what men and women see on the media and how it is in real life. Every single family must decide how comfortable they are with what they choose for their daughters and wives. A classical example; should women go and become doctors, engineers and lawyers? When I go to the hospital with my wife and daughter, we love it if there were a Muslimah there for them. But we also say that we don’t want either of them to be doctors. This is a clear contradiction but it is reality. We don’t want our daughters to be doctors yet we want a Muslimah at the hospital when we visit for our women. These are our realities that we live in, so the question really is how orthodox and hard-nosed can you be when the entire world is changing? To this day many scholars say it is haraam for women to educate in a mixed university. Without a doubt there are double standards- a brother won’t be as strict with non-muslim girls, and as soon as he sees a Muslimah it is as if she is a plague. Looking at her is like medusa- death. If one hair is showing she’ll be criticized even though an hour later we are flirting with the girl in biology class. So again, how strict can we be when the world has lost all sense of decency? In Memphis, YQ speaks about how the first week he came he saw a young teenage sister wearing jeans, a top and a Hijaab and how she was chastised for doing so. As soon as he found out he called a meeting and told all sisters that none of them have a right to be the moral police, rather that he should be the one who decides and tells her when the time is right. She made that choice to come to the mosque when she could have been with a boyfriend or anywhere else not conducive to her Islam. This crudeness and arrogance likely turned her off for the rest of her life. No doubt that aunty/sister is correct but she isn’t looking that this is how that sister dresses outside the mosque.

The Hijaab/Veil by Ahmed DeedatExplaining the consequences of a hyper-sexual society where the negative effects will be far-reaching, “…you are paying the price now and you will pay the price in the future” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inAx6rp4xR4

History of Hijaab Legislation

Jews, Christians and Muslim women have all been instructed to be modest in their dress

Judaism Legislation to cover hair has been around in the earliest of scriptures The “halakha” i.e. shari’ah of the Jews


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A lady that has reached age has to cover her hair, the most common type of coverings are “Snood” and “Tichel” – this is commonly seen today with orthodox Jews

The modern orthodox have this loophole that it is allowed for a woman to wear another lady’s hair/wig – but the lady whose hair she obtained can’t be a Jew (because her hair will be public than). In India there is a huge market of women who sell their hair to Israeli firms

ChristianityChristian nuns of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches dress in a conservative fashion.

The evidence (4) Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. (5) And every

woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, it is just as though her head were shaved. (6) If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head. (13) Judge for yourselves: It is proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? (14) Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, (15) but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering, (16) If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice nor do the churches of God. [Corinthians 11:3-6]

IslamThe legislation of Hijaab was one of the last commandments in Islam, it came down in Dhul-Qa’idah in the 5th year of Hijrah. 95% of the shari’ah was built and erected when this ruling came down.

This is significant because we try to erect the shari’ah as firstly being the Hijaab. This is foolishness on our part; Allah put the Jilbab at the end after all other requirements such as those of Quran, Salah, Dhikr and than of working her way up to Hijaab when she is ready

The first ayah – Ahzab (59) and than Noor (31) was revealed. All the rulings of Hijaab are mentioned explicitly in Quran and we don’t need to turn to hadith – this is in contrast to most of the shari’ah – e.g. how to pray, the time of salah, what to recite and the same for zakah, fasting etc.

PRIMARY VERSES DEALING WITH HIJAAB O Prophet! Say to your wives, your daughters and the women of the believers that they let down (yadnin) over themselves their over garments (jalabib); this will be more proper, that they may be known and thus they will not be given trouble, and Allah is forgiving and merciful [Ahzab, 59]

Tafsir of this AyahThe Prophet is asked first and foremost to start with his own family “Yadnin”- to draw around themselves or close to themselves; this is a physical action of drawing

around - to draw what? Their “jalabib” (the plural of Jilbaab) – this is better for them so that they may be known as being modest, virtuous, chaste and thus they will not be given trouble or irritated

Hijaab brings attention to you? Yes mentioned in The Quran, “They may be known” i.e. this in a positive way that Allah mentions this explicitly so that they may be known for their modesty and virtue

YQ: to be blunt, If women really knew how men think, than even non-Muslim ladies would wear Hijaab. Even Deedat at 78 years old mentions how these advertising companies abuse women, even an old man like himself mentions how he can’t help but be tempted

A study was done, a documentary by BBC, where they interview men shown actual BBC news clips. When a male presenter was presenting news, they could recall most of the facts the man was saying. When a female presenter was presenting the news (nonetheless every single news channel picks a news


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presenter she is beautiful); when this man watches the news with the woman hardly any male remembers the facts – rather he remembered her body shape. When a lady is dressed inappropriately, a man can’t concentrate; this study can be applied to daily life settings today such as school and work. When women dressed modestly, men can actually concentrate on the task at hand.

Allah is saying that he wants women to be dressed and known so they won’t be given trouble – YQ: Women who flaunt their beauty and then things happen, it is not 100% just the guys fault and this is what Allah himself is saying. The fact is when a man’s hormones are raised and he loses control, a chain reaction ensues (to which he is still accountable for) and things happen. A modestly dressed lady will not bring about such type of problems in the man.

From this ayah we learn (TEST QUESTION)Women must make an active effort to – cover themselves – as they are the subject here Ladies have to wear a Jilbaab – what is this? “Jalaba” – to pull something from one place to another.

So a Jilbaab is: Opinions… A large shirt A garment larger than head scarf but smaller than lower garmentA sheet with which a woman covers her clothes from aboveA Khimaar

The 2nd evidenceAnd tell the believing women to reduce [some] of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which [necessarily] appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed. [Nur, 31]

Tafsir of this AyahThe ayah is so detailed because the female form is more tempting compared to men. The pornography

industry shows who the subjects really are, and that the burden of modesty falls on women. To the women: let them not display their beauty except what is apparent or beyond their control –

Ibn Abbas explains: E.g. if the wind blows and uncovers her silhouette body, but she can control the looseness etc, she is forgiven for what she cant control, Let them draw their khumar over their jayub –

Daraba explains: to put one over the other, to take two flaps and cover one with another, - i.e. let them cover one over the other, their khumar, over their jayub – khumar is the plural of Khimaar

Khamar is that which intoxicates but really clouds the mind, Khimaar is that which covers the mind –therefore the Khimaar literally means a head-scarf (covers the head) – and this is evidence for covering the hair – over their jayuub –

“Jaib” means an opening or a slit. Shirts at the time were made such that a cloth was folded in half,than a slit in the middle was made to put the head through – the slit than is the area above the chest – the bossom area – why? Because some ladies in Jahiliyyah (Jahil women wore headscarves but they


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would expose their bossom and chest area) – so Allah here shows us explicitly to cover their head and their bossom.

Wisdom: when you have something descending from the top to cover the chest like a tent does, it gives it a more loose covering but if only wearing a shirt – this would expose the chest size.

Again if the wind blows? This is beyond their control and they are forgiven. It is narrated that after the verse of Hijaab came down, Safiyyah walked outside in full Hijaab and Umar

said that he recognized her. Safiyyah went home upset and the Prophet said that Allah has allowed you to leave your houses if you need to. The verse tells us that a woman has to cover as much as she can and what is beyond her effects is forgiven.Let them not reveal their beauty except to….. (specified relationships) - notice Allah repeats a phrase twice

here – let them not show their beauty (repeated twice) 1) except what is beyond their control, Khimaar over bossoms, 2) except to their husbands, father…. Therefore scholars have said that the first is a reference to the lady outside her house, and the second is a reference to the lady in front of their Mahrams . Outside the house they need Khimaar and in front of their Mahrams no Khimaar is mentioned – so they don’t need to cover their head here.

What is the ‘Awrah of the woman infront of her Mahrams here? That which is culturally understood to be acceptable. In our times a pant, shirt or a skirt,

blouse are all culturally acceptable. Let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment – in those days ladies

wore bangles and whenever they’d walk you would hear a lady coming. When they were around a man they wanted to draw attention to they would stamp their feet extra to produce more sound.

Allah says this in such a beautiful way – the least sensual impulse is the sound (for a man) – to see a woman is most exciting, than to hear her speak, than to smell her scent – and the least is to hear her bangles –

Allah take this least sensual issue and says cut it out, what about the larger issues? Allah says stop this all! Allah did not tell women to stop wearing bangles, rather don’t go beyond what you would do.

In Pakistani culture women wear hand bangles and can hear them whenever they move their hands. Allah is saying don’t go beyond jewelry not to not wear them.

And turn unto Allah together O believer, in order that you may be successful.

Thus the first verse says Jilbaab, the second says Khimaar. But Hijaab has not been mentioned so what is this?

Was Hijaab only for the wives of the The Prophet? Allah says in The Quran,

Oh mothers of the believers, you are not like other women if you far Allah, do not speak in a soft manner so that somebody whose heart has a disease will start thinking things [Ahzab, 32]

The wives of the Prophet are told they are not like other women – YQ: If Allah blessed you to enter into the house of Aisha to find out about the life of the Prophet –

could you imagine any vulgar thoughts? This is not even possible – Allah here tells them don’t speak in a soft voice for if you did so those whose hearts had a disease will begin thinking negative.

This shows that men are programmed in this way – if this is the case in regards to the wives of the Prophet, where are we in our times today and with our sisters?


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Back to the mention of Hijaab… Than Allah says in the Quran,

O you who believe! Enter not the Prophet's houses, except when leave is given to you for a meal, (and then) not (so early as) to wait for its preparation. But when you are invited, enter, and when you have taken your meal, disperse, without sitting for a talk. Verily, such (behaviour) annoys the Prophet, and he is shy of (asking) you (to go), but Allâh is not shy of (telling you) the truth. And when you ask (his wives) for anything you want, ask them from behind a screen (Hijaab), that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts. And it is not (right) for you that you should annoy Allâh's Messenger, nor that you should ever marry his wives after him (his death). Verily! With Allâh that shall be an enormity. [Al-Ahzab: 53]

Than Allah says- if you ask the women for anything, ask them from behind the Hijaab – from this we have some modernists who say Hijaab was only for the wives of the Prophet and not for the other believers

The classical meaning of Hijaab is literally a curtain from the ceiling – the wives of the Prophet had an extra layer of Hijaab such that their forms could never be seen in public.

When Aisha was fighting the armies of Ali, she was in a tent on her camel – even their bodies were silhouetted by a Hijaab above and beyond what she was wearing – so in this case the Hijaab is a physical curtain. When Aisha would teach, she had a physical curtain between her and men.

In this sense, yes Hijaab was only for the wives of the Prophet.

Our usage of the word Hijaab is really KhimaarThus the claim that Hijaab was only valid for the wives of the Prophet is linguistically true, but what these people intend is falseThe Quran tells us that a woman must wear a Khimaar and a Jilbaab

YQ to the sisters: Before I say what follows, I want a condition from you all you must agree to. We will speak about the minimal that we can extract from the Quran about what a Muslim lady is required to wear. The condition is as follows: For those of you that are above the minimum, you are not allowed to go down. For those below: I hope that you work your way up.

The minimum mentioned in the Quran is Khimaar and Jilbaab Outside: the Jilbaab and Khimaar must be worn, the minimum length of the Khimaar must be the lower

chest (below the chest) To the brothers - unless she is your own wife and sister, don’t worry about what a sister is

wearing. If you have a problem, lower your gaze. For those struggling to wear a Hijaab, the minimum requirements are:

Sisters combine the Khimaar and the Jilbaab into one garment such that it is both so that it can be said they are wearing both.

What was the Jilbaab at the time of the Prophet? A sheet The minimal Jilbaab thus is an extra large Khimaar, and the shari’ah does not require two separate garments (even though that is more perfect)

YQ: Pants are never going to be allowed in public – this is not covering the ‘Awrah – if a sister wears pants she needs a physical Jilbaab. If she wears a loose skirt than she may get away with an extra large head scarf

QuestionsThe people who wear thobe in public, is this commendable and brave?


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You are drawing negative attention to Islam and you are not following the sunnah of the prophet

Are body piercings haram? This is not haraam, but clearly mutilation of the body is not allowed in the shari’ah – it has allowed piercings of the ear and nose and we should try to stick to this

Are tight shirts haram?If the intention is to show off the body – this is haram

Is it wrong for women to be the bread winner? This is contrary to the nature that Allah created us upon

Wearing clothes with pictures? The IZOD with a crocodile, or the Polo with a man on a horse- these are not haraam but what is haraam is a face – The Prophet said: The picture is a face. The silhouette of an animal is not haraam

Are women allowed to wax their bikini line?May do her own, not someone else’s. It is not allowed for a woman to do this to another woman

Reciting the pledge of allegiance? In your heart you should add that it not contradict the law of Allah

A muslimah physician’s lab coat constituting a Jilbaab?Yes

Can a sister wear loose pants with loose and long shirts to the knees? Such loose pants are called palazzos, these are allowed

Do women get more reward for praying in their room? Yes- but we should not use this hadith to limit women to stay at home and not to the mosque – we should not take this literally like this because women don’t stay at home anyway nowadays. We should allow them to go to the masjid if they already go out anyway. Quran- Stay in your houses – but really who amongst us (sisters) never leave their houses unless there is an urge or a need? This is not really seen today. Today we should encourage women to go to the masjid than go to the shopping malls, schools etc- as this is the only place where Islam is apparent and clear

BENEFITS OF HIJAAB

1.Purity of heart Allah explicitly says in Surah Al-Ahzab (53) that, “when you ask (his wives) for anything you want, ask them from behind a screen (Hijaab), that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts” Quran—Allah says this about the wives of the Prophet – wearing Hijaab is better for your hearts and theirs That wearing a Hijaab will also purify the thoughts of sisters

2.Signs of chastity


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Allah explicitly says in Surah Al-Ahzab that, “This is better that they are recognized and not Irritated” YQ: That men know that this woman is not a flirt

3.Promotes healthiness in marriageImagine a world where when a man gets married he has never seen a woman’s body – he is not bombarded throughout his entire life of images of most beautiful women. What happens is that every woman becomes the most gorgeous model he has ever seen. Whereas if he has been bombarded with supermodels (mostly fake anyway) – their sensuality and their body – and so we compare our wives with their images and this makes us dissatisfied. Why do we believe Hollywood when it comes to bedroom scenes when we don’t believe other “real life” scenes from Hollywood? That kind of romance simply does not exist in real life We have unreal ideas from sensuality and romance in Bollywood movies because we are saturated with such concepts – yet our parents and those of older generations that never saw their spouse are happier – arranged marriages in those days were more successful than loved marriages today

YQ offers a course on Muslims and marriage entitled, “Like a Garment”

4.Increases modestyThe Prophet said: don’t be naked when alone, what about when in public? The Prophet said: Hayaa is the essence of emaan

5.Curbs perverted behaviorNever in the history of humanity have we seen homosexuality (lesbianism) – and sadly this is a lost battle and all states will eventually approve this. Why is this coming out now? When you raise the bar of perversion you are not satisfied anymore with normal sensuality – when you are immersed with sleeping with as many people as you can, to be satisfied you will want more and more and more. Today we see a scantly clad woman in a magazine and we look at it a second time like nothing. A few years ago this would be banned in New York and would induce rallies. Society now wants worse and worse things. Not just homosexuality, but BDSM, swinging etc are sicknesses that have prevailed. Bedroom toys, role-playing are issues that have become widespread – the older generations did not need this stuff in the past. People want to do more and more kinky and disgusting things because we are so saturated. The average male today has witnessed porn. This is destroying Muslim marriages and has permeated through-out all societies.

6.Protects the natural beauty of women from being exploited Men are wolves and women are sheep and today it is disgusting that today a stripper makes more money than doctors Our shari’ah puts it’s foot down - that if you want a lady you will only take her honorably through marriage – Quran: the #1 factor that motivates men is women, the #1 factor is women and than money and children California #1 export is pornography – Allah has cut all this off through Hijaab, modesty, protection and chastity

7.Part of the inner beauty of womenEvery single sister in a Hijaab is beautiful – this is the beauty of emaan because she exudes an inner decency that every man of decency is attracted to. Even a non-Muslim or immodest Muslim will do whatever he wants, but when it comes to a wife he will want a virtuous and noble woman because this is our fitrah


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REQUIREMENTS OF WOMAN’S HIJAAB

There are 5 conditions

1.That it not describe the body either through tightness or transparency

Abu Hurayra narrated that The Prophet said, “Two groups of people of Hellfire I have yet to see.. and the other are women who are clothed yet naked, ma’ilat and mumilat, their heads will be like camelhumps. They shall not enter Jannah, nor even smell its fragrance, even though its fragrance can be smelt for such and such distance” [Muslim].

Two words specifically used --- ma’ilaat: teaching women that it is ok to be indecent and mumilaat: teaching women to cause men to be attracted to them

YQ: This is why a Muslimah with Hijaab that is wearing tight jeans and shirt is further away from Hijaab than a lady or sister is wearing loose clothing with hair uncovered.

2.The Hijaab or Jilbaab not be eye-catching

Embroidery, colors etc – the purpose and key is simplicity and decency What is extravagant? Depends on time and culture

E.g. in Saudi – every single woman is dressed in black – for a lady in Saudi wearing a pink head scarf, this is not allowed because she is sticking out. In the US, we have huge diversity of Hijaabs and Jilbaabs – and so it is difficult to find eye-catching things. Here there is nothing wrong with a sister wearing bright colors and it is not eye-catching. What about the color black?The color black is not haraam and it is not sunnah – there is no reward in doing so.

YQs preference: In this culture a person wearing black has a certain negative connotation that we should not depict for our Muslim women – thus they can wear simple colors but not black. YQ does not allow his wife to wear all black.

3.That it conform with the general etiquettes of clothing

4. That it cover the entire woman’s ‘AwrahBy unanimous consensus – this means her hair and her entire body

The hands and face are differences of opinion. As for feet, this is also a difference of opinion on what is allowed generally versus within the salah. Within the salah? Majority say yes and one opinion says no. Outside salah, all 4 madhaahib say she should cover her feet.

There are three situations that a woman has to take into account:1. In public in front of non-mahram men. All schools of law, even the Shafi say that the woman’s entire body is ‘Awrah except the hands and the face. Some minority of scholars allow the feet but majority say the feet is part of ‘Awrah as well.

The issue of the feet being awrah: The Hanafi madhab says that the feet are not awrah and the other 3 madhaahib say that the feet is part of the awrah. There is nothing explicit in regards in this regard. When


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Umm Salamah heard the hadith of men covering their ankles, she asked if it applied to women, The Prophet said, “Let her lower one hands length below men’s, she said, “Than the feet will be exposed?” The Prophet said, “Then let her increase it by an arm’s length.” It is clear that it is better to cover their feet.

2. In front of her mahram male-relatives (father, brother, uncle, etc). Scholars say that there does not seem to be a precise ruling about what is allowed in front of mahram men.Nothing specific has been found in the Shari’ah. Therefore we have to look at the culture.

3. Women in front of other women. This is the same as men in front of men: navel to knee. It is not allowed to wear tight clothes in front of other women because the ‘Awrah must be covered. When it comes to Muslim women in front of non-Muslim women, there is no difference. Jewish women use to come to Aisha and she would not cover up.

5.She wears a Jilbaab above and beyond her regular clothing

It may be any color, but it is a covering above and beyond the regular clothes

Evidences for Jilbaab1. Quran- Allah uses the word Jilbaab specifically O Prophet! Say to your wives, your daughters and the women of the believers that they let down (yadnin) over themselves their over garments (jalabib); this will be more proper, that they may be known and thus they will not be given trouble, and Allah is forgiving and merciful [Ahzab, 59]

2. Allah makes an exception that older women can discard the outer garment, therefore the rule must be that younger women must wear the Jilbaab And as for women past child-bearing who do not expect wed-lock, it is no sin on them if they discard their (outer) clothing in such a way as not to show their adornment. But to refrain (i.e. not to discard their outer clothing) is better for them. And Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower.[An Nur: 60]

The Prophet commanded women to go attend Eid, at which a woman said, “O Messenger of Allah! Some of us do not have a Jilbaab, so can we remain home?” To which the Prophet said, “Let her sister share her Jilbaab with her” [Bokhari]In those days young women would stay at home until she got married – today the world has changed. Women were very content in how they were. They really didn’t want to go out so they search for an excuse when The Prophet asked them to; this is in complete contrast to the women of today. He told her to share the Jilbaab of her sister – i.e. (the Jilbaab for them was a large sheet) so the The Prophet asked them to get a large sheet and the both of them come underneath it.

This raises a number of questions and issues:

1. The psychological impact for many sisters who have been wearing a headscarf but have not been wearing a Jilbaab: they are now told that a Jilbaab is a requirement of Islam and there is no doubt that this will hit them in a very personal manner. We are very proud of these sisters for wearing the Hijaab and are asked not to feel bad that you have not been doing the job. However, the fact of the matter is that our religion does require a


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little bit more. The khimar is the more difficult, and the less difficult is the Jilbaab. It is a requirement clearly found in the Quran and Sunnah.

2. What is minimum Jilbaab? One that is larger than a headscarf and smaller than a lower garment. The Jilbaab is the headscarf. A large headscarf constitutes the Jilbaab and Khimaar together. The Shari’ah does not say how long it has to be but it is better if it comes down at least to the knees.

3. Brothers are too often overly obsessed with what sisters are and are not wearing. Lower your gaze! It is not your job to give dawah to strange sisters about Hijaab or Jilbaab unless she is your wife and to a lesser extent your sister. Let other sisters do that job.

4. Sisters who are wearing proper Hijaab and Jilbaab should not be overly harsh on those who are not. You will not win converts through harshness and arrogance. Set a good example and be a role model. Be their friend before prodding their Hijaab and Jilbaab. Simply fiqh of dawah: win their hearts before you win their minds. This shows that the minimal Jilbaab is a large scarf

Issue of Niqab

Today even the Niqab has become a symbol of sensuality (YQ shows an image of a woman wearing a Niqab but with very well-done-up eyes.)

YQ’s main point: The niqab has been a part of our tradition from the beginning, it IS within our deen and the debate of if it is waajib or not is a different issue

The only two opinions that exist amongst the scholars are if the Niqab is recommended or waajib. This issue is so controversial that every madhab has both opinions in it. This shows that there is no explicit answer.

The Niqab is waajib1) In the Quran: “Let them lower their khimar over their juyub.” For the scholars that argue for this opinion, this means the niqab.

2) “Let not the women in ihram wear the niqab or gloves” [Al-Bokhari]. Because the Prophet had to tell them not to wear the niqab (and gloves) in Ihram, this clearly shows that they would be wearing it by default

3) Aishah narrates, “Travelers would pass by us while we were riding with The Prophet during Hajj. So when they approached us, we would lower our jilbab from our heads over our faces, until they passed us, after which we would lift it off [Abu Dawud]. The wives of the prophet understood that they had to cover their face even if they are not wearing nijab

The Niqab not waajib; rather mustahabb and not obligatory

1) The Hadith of Asma, “Oh Asma! When a woman comes of age, nothing should be seen of her except this and this” and he pointed to his face and his hands [Abu Dawud]The Prophet saw Asma wearing a light garment (a skirt or a blouse, but likely that she was not fully dressed).


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2) Hadith of Jaabir [Bokhari] that on The Day of Eid The Prophet went to the women to give them a lecture and said, “….give sadaqah because I see that many of the people of hellfire are women” Jaabir narrates a woman stood up from the middle of the gathering and she had dark cheeks and said….How would he know she had dark cheeks? She was clearly NOT wearing niqaab

YQ on niqab: “For sisters who wear niqab – may Allah help you – but you are facing much scrutiny, hassle and grief – this automatically means certain professions are difficult for you, so choose wisely – there will be understandable repercussions. If you are covering your mouth, ensure you have a strong and sharp tongue underneath it – never allow any person to comment without giving a polite and sharp comment back because a man can’t defend you in this regard. I would not encourage my sisters to wear a niqab, we are surrounded by much sensuality so really honestly if you take it off it won’t cause any issues. If you do decide to do it, remember that you must be brave and be your own public defenders”

CONCLUSIONThe Hijaab is not just a piece of cloth that you put on your head- it is a way of life and a way of dealing with the opposite gender. If you wear the Hijaab than make sure you practice it.

And the final conclusion…

Shaytaan’s earliest plot (infact THE earliest plot) was that our father and mother eat haraam and expose nakedness, and Allah tells us in the Quran to not do it again, and so eating and drinking haraam and exposing our ‘Awrahs is indeed a plot of shaytaan, so let us be careful.

Also a reminder that we are talking about ourselves first, and there are millions of Muslims around the world who don’t have food and clothing. The Prophet said: the best of all deeds are to give another Muslim – feed them and to clothe them. One of the main points of Eid-Adha is to feed the poor. Find a Muslim family to feed and clothe

Quran-- In this world who has prohibited your beautiful clothes? Allah wants us to look good and dress good as long as we don’t go beyond this.


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Done studying? Now what…

Try the practice test: http://www.wiziq.com/online-tests/24471-precious-provisions-practice-test

Precious Provisions study packages prepared by Qabeelat Durbah: http://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_1.pdfhttp://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_2-3.pdfhttp://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_4-5.pdf


http://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_4-5.pdf

http://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_2-3.pdf

http://www.qwasat.org/ilm/prpr/prpr_durbah_notes_1.pdf

http://www.wiziq.com/online-tests/24471-precious-provisions-practice-test

precious provisions by yasir qadhi (al maghrib course notes qnoor oct '12)

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