Photo from Usman Arshad

The Dos and Donts of Muharram

Please see the following link for the what should and shouldn’t be done during this blessed month.

https://www.wifaqululama.co.uk/muharram/

You may not know but there were numerous reports from the U.K. for this month of Muharram, hence local sighting is a reality. Assist in improving local sighting by joining and becoming a crescent chasers and resurrect the Sunna!

https://www.wifaqululama.co.uk/crescent-chasers/

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Moonsighting Marathon!

A moonsighting conference was held on iqra tv. If you want to understand the science and fiqh of moonsighting then rather than debate learn the knowledge.

Segment 3
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=W9WnlJLQ5dQ

Segment 4
https://youtu.be/io8ZyzJM9dQ


You may not know but there were numerous reports from the U.K. for this month of Muharram, hence local sighting is a reality. Assist in improving local sighting by joining and becoming a crescent chasers and resurrect the Sunna!

https://www.wifaqululama.co.uk/crescent-chasers/

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Husband to wife and wife to husband

When looking for how best to define things there is no better place to start than our scriptures. So when I wanted to define what a husband and a wife should be to each other I looked in the Qurʾān and found the following aya:

[هُنَّ لِبَاسٌ لَكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لِبَاسٌ لَهُنَّ] (البقرة: 187)

So succinct, so deep and meaningful, Allāh’s Kalām is perfection

‘They are a garment for you and you are a garment for them’

A garment…- what is its purpose?

It keeps us warm when we are cold,
And cool when we are hot,
It covers our bodies’ imperfections,
It makes us look good,
It gives us confidence,
It protects us when needed,
It protects us from unwanted attention from others,
It shows off our beauty,
And the list goes on and on as in intimacy one literally becomes the garment for the other.

So to understand if you are fulfilling your wife’s rights then are you a garment for her and similarly as a wife are you a garment for him and meeting the definitions as described above.

PS. One garment a spouse shouldn’t be for the other is to be their shroud!

Mufti Amjad Mohammed

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Presenters of Iqra

See the presenters like you’ve not seen them before with some light hearted humour, jokes, the attempt at a mic drop and Mufti Amjad Sāhib refusing to answer questions!

Hosted by Imām Qasim Sāhib at the Croydon studio.

https://youtu.be/8JL6y7ybLeQ

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Visit of Abdulhakim Idris - Uyghur Congress
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I am sure many of you are aware of the plight of the Uyghur Muslims at the hands of the Chinese government; however with what’s going on in the world we are quick to forget.
In order to raise awareness we are being visited by Sh Abdulhakim Idris of the Uyghur Congress in September and we would like to arrange for him to meet Ulamā and communities particularly in the North of U.K. His details can be found here https://www.uyghurcongress.org/en/staff/mr-abdulhakim-idris/

If you would like to host our guest then please get in touch by emailing info@irtis.org.uk. The specific dates he is available is 7th to 9th of September however there are opportunities after that date.

Mufti Amjad Mohammed

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Diet or Die it

Well that’s as catchy title I could think of but it is an important topic that is not discussed enough from an Islamic perspective. As we know our dīn guides and advises on all aspects of our life including what we should eat and the quantity.

The body has been given to us by Allāh as an asset to utilise in drawing close to Allāh through worship and surviving this world.
The ḥadīth which springs to mind is narrated by al-Miqdām ibn M’adīkarib collected by Imām Tirmidhi and graded as ṣaḥīḥ
‎عن المقدام بن معد يكرب قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَا مَلَأَ آدَمِيٌّ وِعَاءً شَرًّا مِنْ بَطْنٍ بِحَسْبِ ابْنِ آدَمَ أُكُلَاتٌ يُقِمْنَ صُلْبَهُ فَإِنْ كَانَ لَا مَحَالَةَ فَثُلُثٌ لِطَعَامِهِ وَثُلُثٌ لِشَرَابِهِ وَثُلُثٌ لِنَفَسِهِ

The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “The son of Ādam cannot fill a vessel worse than his stomach, as it is enough for him to take a few bites to straighten his back. If he cannot do it, then he may fill it with a third of his food, a third of his drink, and a third of his breath.”

The ḥadīth is clear in stating that one should eat according to how much energy one burns and utilises in the day as anything excess will be stored as fat and lead to obesity which is the main preventable killer in many western countries. If one must eat more than a few morsels to get him through the next few hours then he should never eat to his fill rather suffice on approximately 1/3. This in conjunction with our sedentary lives is in complete contradiction to the sunna where our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was building Masjid Nabwi in his fifties and involved in battles up to his sixties.

Our Ulama who are the guardians of our faith should lead by example so folk can understand that the relevance of a fit, strong body is a religious requirement and gives one a good lifestyle, mental state and strength to worship Allāh until one’s last days. The Ulamā are not here just to teach how to recite Qurʾān or how to pray but we are here to teach how to live.

Mufti Amjad Mohammed

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House of Hate or Home of Happiness?

‘The home is where the heart is’ - a phrase we hear regularly but possibly don’t understand properly. In short, where you are loved is your home. That can be on the streets with your boyz for some lads, it could be a secret boyfriend or any other place where we find love and appreciation. It’s unfortunate that in many occasions it is not the house we live and share with our family members. We have many examples of relationship breakdowns, dysfunctional families, generational gaps, cultural misapplication and a number of other issues which result in a house of hate in which nobody wants to share anytime together, but prefer to be out of the house.

I will share two aḥadīth that demonstrate the sunna approach when it comes to how we should live as a family.

The following, a ṣaḥīḥ ḥadīth, compiled by imām Aḥmad

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عَمْرٍقَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ مَنْ لَمْ يَرْحَمْ صَغِيرَنَا وَيَعْرِفْ حَقَّ كَبِيرِنَا فَلَيْسَ مِنَّا

The Messenger of Allāh is reported to have said’ “The one who does not show mercy and love to our young or acknowledge the rights of our elders is not from us.”

We always hear about respecting the elders but rarely hear about showing mercy and love to our young; in fact if you look at the ḥadīth it mentions expressing mercy to the young first. So overlook the mistakes of the young and support them with love and tenderness, they will recognise as a result the role of the elders as nurturers and carers and show them respect in return.

Similarly in the second ḥadīth collected in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim is

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَلَا كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ فَالْإِمَامُ الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ وَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِ زَوْجِهَا وَوَلَدِهِ وَهِيَ مَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْهُمْ وَعَبْدُ الرَّجُلِ رَاعٍ عَلَى مَالِ سَيِّدِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُ أَلَا فَكُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ

The relevant part has been translated,

“Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of a people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them.”

The leader/guardian should lead with mercy, care and in a nurturing way applying the sunna effectively with wisdom and understanding. This will be a means for him to gain respect from his wife and children as he spends all his time caring for their needs. In return they will express love and respect for him.

In conclusion, this type of leadership expressed by those in charge over us will generate love and respect in return. This will mean that we live in a home abundant in happiness rather than a house bubbling full of hate.

Which establishment do you reside in?


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Days of Fitna

A ḥadīth we find in a number of Ahadith books which describes the situation when the Days of Fitna are upon us is as follows, which we recently studied in the Jāmīʿ of Tirmidhi, however the following one is in Sunan of Ibn Māja

‎عَنْ أَبِي أُمَيَّةَ الشَّعْبَانِيِّ، قَالَ أَتَيْتُ أَبَا ثَعْلَبَةَ الْخُشَنِيَّ قَالَ قُلْتُ كَيْفَ تَصْنَعُ فِي هَذِهِ الآيَةِ قَالَ أَيَّةُ آيَةٍ قُلْتُ ‏{يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ لاَ يَضُرُّكُمْ مَنْ ضَلَّ إِذَا اهْتَدَيْتُمْ}‏ قَالَ سَأَلْتَ عَنْهَا خَبِيرًا سَأَلْتُ عَنْهَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ـ صلى الله عليه وسلم ـ فَقَالَ ‏"‏ بَلِ ائْتَمِرُوا بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنَاهَوْا عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ حَتَّى إِذَا رَأَيْتَ شُحًّا مُطَاعًا وَهَوًى مُتَّبَعًا وَدُنْيَا مُؤْثَرَةً وَإِعْجَابَ كُلِّ ذِي رَأْىٍ بِرَأْيِهِ وَرَأَيْتَ أَمْرًا لاَ يَدَانِ لَكَ بِهِ فَعَلَيْكَ خُوَيْصَّةَ نَفْسِكَ وَدَعْ أَمْرَ الْعَوَامِّ فَإِنَّ مِنْ وَرَائِكُمْ أَيَّامَ الصَّبْرِ الصَّبْرُ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ قَبْضٍ عَلَى الْجَمْرِ لِلْعَامِلِ فِيهِنَّ مِثْلُ أَجْرِ خَمْسِينَ رَجُلاً يَعْمَلُونَ بِمِثْلِ عَمَلِهِ ‏

It was narrated that Abu Umayyah Sha’bānī said: “I came to Abu Tha’labah Al-Khushani and asked, ‘How do you understand this verse?’ He asked, ‘Which verse?’ I replied, ‘O you who believe! Take care of your own selves. If you follow the (right) guidance, no hurt can come to you from those who are in error.”[5:105] He said, ‘You have asked one who knows about it. I asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about it and he said, “Enjoin good upon one another and forbid one another from doing evil, but if you see overwhelming stinginess, desires being followed, this world being preferred (to the Hereafter), every person feeling proud of their opinion, and you realise that you have no power to deal with it, then you have to mind your own business and leave the people to their own devices. After you will come days of patience, during which patience will be like grasping a burning ember, and one who does good deeds will have a reward like that of fifty men doing the same deed.”

The ḥadīth speaks of a time of excessive stinginess, folk following their desires, and everyone thinking they are correct and right. It does not take a scholar to mention that we are in these days especially when it mentions that the religious and pious when they try to be patient will be like holding on to an ember, which is near impossible. However even in this bleak situation there are glad tidings as Abdullah ibn Mubārak mentions another narration in which a companion asks,

O Messenger of Allāh, the reward of fifty men from us or from them?

He صلى الله عليه وسلام replied, ‘In fact, the reward of fifty men from amongst you!’

Subhan Allāh

The situation will be difficult and hard to bear but perform good deeds in these challenging times and potentially earn the reward of fifty Companions!

So work on yourself and your immediate family, if you can influence beyond that then alhamdullilah - otherwise continue to perform good deeds and bear with patience.

Mufti Amjad Mohammed

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Process of Daʿwa

In Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī when discussing the order of the written Qurʾān a ḥadīth is mentioned of which the relevant section is quoted below and it discusses the response our beloved and honourable mother Aisha, may Allāh be pleased with her, made

إنَّما نَزَلَ أوَّلَ ما نَزَلَ منه سُورَةٌ مِنَ المُفَصَّلِ، فِيهَا ذِكْرُ الجَنَّةِ والنَّارِ، حتَّى إذَا ثَابَ النَّاسُ إلى الإسْلَامِ نَزَلَ الحَلَالُ والحَرَامُ، ولو نَزَلَ أوَّلَ شَيءٍ: لا تَشْرَبُوا الخَمْرَ، لَقالوا: لا نَدَعُ الخَمْرَ أبَدًا، ولو نَزَلَ: لا تَزْنُوا، لَقالوا: لا نَدَعُ الزِّنَا أبَدًا، لقَدْ نَزَلَ بمَكَّةَ علَى مُحَمَّدٍ صلَّى اللهُ عليه وسلَّم وإنِّي لَجَارِيَةٌ ألْعَبُ
‘A sura from the al-Mufassal was revealed before it; in there it mentions the Janna and the Fire, until the people come to Islam then the Ḥalāl and Ḥarām was revealed. If the first matters to be revealed were, ‘Don’t drink alcoholic drinks,’ they would respond and say, ‘We will never leave alcoholic drinks ever.’ Similarly if was revealed first, ‘Don’t have illicit relationships,’ they would respond and say, ‘We will never leave illicit relationships ever.’

When we have conversations about life then our starting point has to be around what happens to us after death. That leads to what happens before birth. Then we can discuss the concepts of justice and the lack of it in this life. Naturally when we speak of justice we will speak of injustice. Then the conversations around retribution and bringing justice to the oppressed will necessitate punishments but also rewards for the obedient. This is a system in all aspects of life; rewards for those who do good and excel and consequences for those who do bad and promote it. Once this understanding is embedded in the heart and mind of the individual, the person will believe and it is this belief that will allow one to then move onto the legal and the illegal, in other words the ḥalāl and the ḥarām.

Daʿwa, the calling to Islam, was a practice for Muslims to engage with non-Muslims so that they would understand the beliefs and practices of Muslims and have a good opportunity of deciding which path to take; whether to accept this new way of life as the true understating or continue along their current path. However, in present day and age, due to widespread ignorance and misinformation about Islam, people who are born as Muslims in Muslim homes are in need of a similar approach. As the statements that the Mother of the Believers makes that people would say, we will not stop drinking alcoholic beverages or committing illicit acts in relationships would mean that a non-Muslim remains a non-Muslim but could put the Muslim out of the fold of Islam hence approaching a Muslim has to be done even more sensitively.

As the order in the muṣḥaf is not according to revelation or contextually embedded it can easily be misunderstood and potentially confusing for those engaging with Islam; a sincere, knowledgable and articulate individual who is well aware of culture and society norms is the ideal conduit between the person and Allāh.

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