Ibn Qutaibah on the Students of Knowledge of Old
December 21, 2014 § Leave a comment
Ibn Qutaibah رحمه الله said, “In the past, a student of knowledge would listen to learn, and learn to act, and gain understanding of the religion in order to benefit himself and others. But now it has become such that they listen in order to [merely] accumulate, and they accumulate in order to be mentioned, and they memorise in order to overcome [others] and boast.”
Ibn Qutaibah said this over one thousand years ago, he passed away in 276 Hijri.
Al-Madkhal al-Mufassal li-Madhhab al-Imaam Ahmad wa Takhrijaat al-Ashaab, vol. 1, p. 13.
Advice Given to Shaikh ’Uthaimeen by His Shaikhs
December 15, 2014 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Some of my Shaikhs mentioned to me that it befits a person who asks about an issue to seek Allaah’s Forgiveness in abundance, deriving that from The Most High’s Statement, ‘Surely, We have sent down to you the Book in truth that you might judge between men by that which Allaah has shown you, so be not a pleader for the treacherous. And seek the Forgiveness of Allaah, certainly, Allaah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful,’ [Nisaa 4: 105-106] because seeking Allaah’s Forgiveness in abundance necessitates the disappearance of the effects of sins which are a cause for forgetting knowledge and [a cause of] ignorance.”
Al-Khilaaf bainal-’Ulemaa, pp. 37-38.
A Question Connected to Prayer
December 12, 2014 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, was asked, “‘If a man wanted to get a tissue whilst he was standing and praying, and in order to do so he bent his back like someone who is bowing and then stood up again, what is the ruling [concerning that]?’
He replied, ‘His standing [in prayer] is not valid [after that action], because he has left one of the pillars [rukn] of the prayer, i.e., the standing, so he must repeat his prayer.’”
At-Ta’leeq ’alaa Sahih Muslim, vol. 4, p. 661.
Weather Forecasts
December 10, 2014 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, was asked, “‘We hear on the radio where they say that it will rain in a certain area tomorrow, does this contradict the fact that knowledge of when rain will fall is specific to Allaah [Alone]?’
He replied, ‘Many people find this problematic thinking that weather forecasts go against Allaah’s Statement, ‘And with Him are the keys of the Unseen,’ but the reality is that they do not, because their knowledge of such matters is knowledge which draws on something palpable. Things are linked to their causes.’”
Sharh Hadith Jibreel ’alaihis-salaam, p. 110.
An Abandoned Sunnah: Seeking A Cure By Placing One’s Saliva and Some Earth on One’s Finger and Saying the Following
December 8, 2014 § Leave a comment
Aaishah رضي الله عنها narrated that Allaah’s Messenger ﷺ used to read in his ruqya:
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
تُرْبَةُ أَرْضِنَا ورِيقَةُ بَعْضِنَا، يُشْفَى سَقِيمُنَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّنَا
Bismillāh.
Turbatu ʾArdinā, wa rīqatu badinā, yushfā saqīmunā, biʾidhni Rabbinā.
“In the Name of Allaah.
The earth of our land and the saliva of some of us cure our patient
with the permission of our Lord.”
[Al-Bukhaari, The Book of Medicine, nos. 5745 and 5746.]
An-Nawawi said, “The meaning of the hadith is that he took some of his own saliva on his index finger then placed it on the earth so that some of it stuck to it and then wiped it on the ailing or injured area whilst saying the above words as he wiped.” [Fathul-Baari, vol. 10, p. 208.]
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “… specifying ‘the earth’ [mentioned in the narration] to be that of Medinah or the ‘some of us’ to be referring specifically to the Prophet ﷺ as Ibn Hajr said is something disputable, what is apparent is that this is something general and Allaah سبحانه وتعالى may place a cure in such things.” [Source.]
And the The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’, at the head of whom was Ibn Baaz, confirmed that the hadith is general and not specific to Medina or the Prophet ﷺ, see here.
The Meaning of the Part of the Witr Supplication on Guidance
December 7, 2014 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “In the Qunut supplication [of al-Witr] when we say, ‘O Allaah! Guide me [along] with those [others] whom You have guided,’ we are asking Allaah تعالى for two types of guidance: that of knowledge and action, just as His Saying تعالى, ‘Guide us to the Straight Path,’ includes two types of guidance, that of [being guided to beneficial] knowledge and [also being guided] to action. So it befits the one reciting [such supplications] to bear in mind that he is asking for both of these types of guidance, that of knowledge and action.”
Sharh Du’aa Qunootil-Witr, p. 7.
On Being Struck by Lightning
December 6, 2014 § 1 Comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, was asked, “‘If a person is struck by lightning it will burn him in a moment due to it being such an enormous electrical force, is such a person, therefore, like one who dies in a fire and who is regarded as a martyr?’
He replied, ‘Yes, such a person is regarded as a martyr. Allaah تعالى wanted good for him in causing him to die in such a way inshaa Allaah.’”
At-Ta’leeq ’alaa Saheeh Muslim, vol. 4, p. 618.
Enjoying What Allaah Has Made Permissible
December 1, 2014 § Leave a comment
Shaikh ’Uthaimeen, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Enjoying what Allaah عزوجل has made permissible without going to excess is something praiseworthy, whoever leaves off doing so without a legislated reason is blameworthy.”
Sharh Hilyah Taalib al-Ilm, p. 61.
Gifts of Knowledge 