Know Your Deen

Islamic QA for North America

March 15, 2010
by Ml. Muhammed Shoayb
0 comments

sets of two rakats or four?

Q: I have a friend from a different madhab. He is shafe.  He reads taraweeh in sets of two all the way up to 20 rakats. I am hanafee. i read it in sets of four, four, four to 20. We both memorized the quran and perform taraweeh together. Is doing sets of four correct or 2. Am i missing something?

A: Each is doing it correctly as per madhab.

Allah Certainly Knows Best.

sorry for great delay in response.

March 13, 2010
by Ml. Muhammed Shoayb
0 comments

Made your will yet?

Question: How exactly does one create a will according to shariah?  Does s/he just use any piece of paper?  what does s/e write on it in order for it to be a valid will? Please answer in light of your tafseer program. Continue Reading →

March 11, 2010
by Ml. Muhammed Shoayb
1 Comment

i want to be good

Q:

Asalam ulaikum, Dear imaam
1) On a daily basis i try to stay away from sins and bring the most good out of the day. 2) But there is still one big sin i keep committing. I am not strong enough to stay away from it, but i would love to stop it. I have tried many times, but each time i fail.3)  I am afraid Allah will stop forgiving me because i keep going back to the sin. 4) Please help me with a dua or something that i can do to stop this. This one sin stops me from doing alot of good deeds. 5) I dont know wat to do anymore.Please help. Jazakallah u khairan.

Time: Monday March 8, 2010 at 3:49 pm

Answers: ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????

1) Staying away from sins is a gift form Allah. You must thank Allah for this ability. Thanking Allah would make you spiritually stronger. Not thanking Allah reduces His bounties upon us. (derived from ayah)

2) To move away from evil, visualize that Allah is looking at you. (Derived from hadith.) You cannot totally stop if your nafs have being wrongfully trained. To retrain your nafs, refrain from the  given wrong that you wish to stop for a minimum of about 40 days. Every time you go towards that wrong, place a penalty upon yourself. E.g: $5.00 to a person that you look down upon. This would assist  you in refraining from a given wrong.

3)

???? ????????????? ????????? ??????????? ??????? ??????????? ??? ??????????? ??? ????????? ????????? ????? ??????? ???????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????? ? ???? ?????????? ??????????

Say (oh Muhammad SAW): O My slaves (servants) who have been reckless to themselves (doing evil)! Despair not in the Mercy of Allah, Verily Allah forgives all sins. Verily Allah is the most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Allah (Subhanahu Wata’Ala) will always forgive His sincere servants for crimes against Him. Your fear is from shaytan who is tricking you to feel pious with this given thought. Your thinking maybe viewed as pious, but in reality, any thinking that is contrary to the Quran is baseless. To despair in His Mercy is to relinquish hope in Him. To give up hope in Allah is tantamount to disbelief. This is wrong for a believer. Thus a Muslim always prays for the Love and Compassion of Allah upon all. Do not let shaytan make you despair in the Love and Mercy of Allah

4) Make lots of istigfar in your spare time. One hadith sates that Rasulullah (Sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) used to make istigfar no less then 100 times a day. Sit in the company of good people and read your istigfar in private as well as public. Attach your self to the Quran.

5) (As said in a previous post)

‘The first step for you would be to practice whatever little you can from the Quran and sunnah. The following points are mentioned in Hadith for improving one’s self. A simple suggestion would be inclusive of sharing the complete Islamic greeting when greeting one another. Take its words serious and live up to its value. Share love and peace to all people worthy of it. This may seem trivial but it remains a starting point. Learn to visit the sick. Go to the invitations of the pious. Eat halaal foods. Look at that which is pure and not that which is forbidden. Following the minutest of sunnah helps chip away with sinning and reduces the heart from being filled with restlessness. These measures would bring joy to strengthening ones Imaan.

The ability to repent and desire to seek change is proof that Allah (Subhanahu Wata’Ala) loves you and wants the very best for you. Few people have the ability to repent sincerely as a result of wrong. Consider yourself blessed.’

Allah Certainly Knows Best.

March 9, 2010
by Ml. Muhammed Shoayb
0 comments

I was posessed by a Jinn

Q:
Asalam-Walaykum,
Ya’ Imam
Last night I had a dream, where I was possessed by a Jinn. I saw myself in a dark room where nothing was visible. And then when I turned to the right I saw a faucet. I tried to pull on the faucet but nothing happened. Then I looked straight in the mirror with my eyes wide open. I began to scream, I remember opening my mouth so big, it felt like it was going to rip. Once I woke up I felt like I saw something that resembled a Jinn, watching over me.
Thank You
Wsallam

Time: Thursday March 4, 2010 at 10:35 pm Continue Reading →

March 8, 2010
by Ml. Muhammed Shoayb
0 comments

so why must the ahnaf get left out on zero % interest

Question/Comment:

Assalam Alaikum
1) Whats the hanafi ruling on this 2) Sometimes opting out of a loan is extremely difficult especially for graduate school. What if one knows they cannot pay right away and would like to use the two years with 0% interest rate as a time period to slowly pay off the debt? 3) The majority of the people don’t have, for example, $10,000 to pay tuition per semester. I understand we should try to get scholarships and save up some money for grad school, but realistically speaking it is hard to save up somewhere from $50,000 to $150,000 with undergraduate degrees. 4) Also, one would be very lucky to find a 0% interest rate loan. What is one supposed to do in such a situation as to avoid riba?
JAK Continue Reading →