Ibn Baaz’s Ramadaan Advice in 1993
May 17, 2018 § Leave a comment
Questioner: What words of advice do you direct to the Islamic Ummah concerning the month of Ramadan?
Ibn Baaz: بسم الله، والحمد لله، وصلى الله على رسول الله، وعلى آله وأصحابه، ومن اهتدى بهداه، أما بعد:
Concerning the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadaan for this year 1414H/1993 I advise my brother Muslims in all places to fear Allaah, and to race to all that is good, to exhort one another to truth and to be patient in that, cooperating upon righteousness and taqwaa, being wary of everything that Allaah has forbidden, of all sins in all places, especially during this precious month, for it is a great month in which righteous deeds are multiplied, and the sins of the people who fast and stand in prayer during it out of sincere faith and seeking its reward from Allaah are forgiven, due to the saying of the Prophet ﷺ, “Whoever prays during the night in Ramadaan out of sincere faith and seeking its reward from Allaah, will have all of his previous sins forgiven.” [Reported by Bukhaari and Muslim] And his saying ﷺ, “When Ramadaan begins, the gates of Paradise are opened, the gates of Hell are closed, and the devils are chained up.” And his saying ﷺ, “Fasting is a shield. When any one of you is fasting, he should neither indulge in obscene language nor raise his voice. If anyone reviles him or tries to quarrel with him he should say, ‘I am fasting.’” And his saying ﷺ, “Allaah the Exalted and Majestic said: ‘Every act of the son of Adam is for him, the reward of every (good) deed of a person is multiplied tenfold, except fasting which is (exclusively) for Me, and I will reward him for it. He has abstained from food and drink, and sexual pleasures for My sake. The one who fasts experiences two pleasures: he feels pleasure when he breaks his fast and he will be joyful when he meets his Lord, and surely the breath of someone fasting is better smelling to Allah than the fragrance of musk.”
And he ﷺ used to give his Companions the joyous news of Ramadaan’s arrival, saying to them, ‘The month of Ramadaan has come to you, a month of blessings, Allaah sends down Mercy in it, wipes away sins, answers supplications, boasts of you before His Angels, so show Allaah good from yourselves, for the wretched one is the one who is deprived of Allaah’s Mercy in it.’ And he ﷺ said, ‘Whoever does not give up evil and ignorant speech, and acting in accordance with it, then Allaah has no need of him giving up his food and drink,” reported by Bukhaari in his Saheeh and the hadiths about the excellence of Ramadaan and the encouragement to do extra [good] deeds in it are numerous.
So I advise my brother Muslims to remain steadfast during its days and nights and to compete [with each other] in all good deeds, amongst which is increasing in ones recitation of the Noble Quran with reflection and understanding and increasing how much one says Subhaanallaah … alhamdulillaah … Laa ilaaha illallaah … Allaahu Akbar … and astaghfirullaah and in how much one asks Allaah for Paradise and seeks refuge from the Fire and in all good supplications [in general].
Just as I also advise my brothers to increase in giving in charity, and in consoling the poor and needy, paying attention to producing one’s zakaah and giving it to those who deserve it, along with paying attention to calling to Allaah سبحانه, educating the ignorant, enjoining the good and forbidding evil with gentleness, wisdom and a good manner, whilst being careful of all sins and sticking to repentance and remaining steadfast upon the truth, doing so due to His Saying, ‘And turn to Allaah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed,’ [24:31] and His Saying, ‘Indeed those who say, ‘Our lord is Allaah,’ and then follow the straight path there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. Those are the companions of Paradise, abiding eternally therein as reward for what they used to do.’ [46:13-14]
May Allaah grant everyone success in doing that which pleases Him, and may He grant refuge to all from trials that lead one astray, and from the whispers of the Devil, indeed Allaah is the Magnanimous, Most Generous.
Ibn Baaz on the Blessing of Even Reaching Ramadaan
May 17, 2018 § Leave a comment
Questioner: Are there any particular legislated acts a Muslim should do to welcome the [arrival of the] month of Ramadan?
Ibn Baaz: Ramadaan is the best month of the year because Allaah سبحانه وتعالى singled it out by making it obligatory to fast during it and made it the fourth pillar of Islaam, and He legislated that the Muslims pray during its nights as the Prophet ﷺ said, “Islaam is built on five (pillars): testifying to (the fact) that there is no god worthy of worship except Allah, that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah, establishing the Prayer, paying the Zakaah, Pilgrimage to the House (Ka’bah) and fasting [the month of] Ramadan.” [Reported by Bukhaari and Muslim] And he ﷺ also said, “Whoever prays during the night in Ramadan out of sincere faith and seeking its reward from Allaah, will have all of his previous sins forgiven.” [Reported by Bukhaari and Muslim]
I don’t know of anything specific to welcome Ramadaan apart from the fact that a Muslim should do so with joy, happiness, delight and thanks [shukr] to Allaah that He has allowed him to reach Ramadaan, and that He has granted him success in allowing him to be from the people who are alive to see it and who are competing to perform good deeds during it—for [even] reaching Ramadaan is a tremendous blessing from Allaah and for this reason the Prophet ﷺ would give his Companions the joyous news of its advent, clarifying its excellence and the huge reward that Allaah has prepared for the people who fast and stand in prayer during it. And it is legislated that the Muslim welcomes this precious month with sincere repentance and by preparing to fast and stand to pray in it with a sincere intention and truthful resolve.
The Order in Which Dhikr is Read
May 15, 2018 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Abdul-Kareem al-Khudair, may Allaah protect him said, “Attention should be paid to the issue of reading adhkaar in a particular set order. Many people are used to reading certain adhkaar in the morning and evening, and [also] other supplications at set times, and you will find that most of these words of remembrance are done in a particular order by them, [but] no narrations have been reported saying that this dhikr is to be said before that one [etc.]. You will find them reading it in a particular order their entire life whilst saying, ‘I’m not using this arrangement as a part of this act’s worship it’s just that if I change the order and say this one before that one or vice versa I forget some of them,’ if that is their intention then there is no problem with that but sometimes they should try to [change the order and] say one earlier and delay another in the order [they are said] and not use that arrangement as a part of that act’s worship.”
Excellent Phone App of Imaam Sa’dee’s Works
May 14, 2018 § Leave a comment
Here is an application just launched yesterday of Imaam as-Sa’dee’s works, he was Shaikh Uthaimeen’s teacher, may Allaah have mercy on them both. It includes thirty books published for the first time and has his works on Tawheed, Aqidah, Tafseer, his sermons, da’wah, manners and so on. They have produced the app, which is in Arabic only, to a very high standard.
The Emptiest Houses …
May 13, 2018 § Leave a comment
Shaikh Abdur-Razzaaq al-Badr, said, “Abdullah ibn Mas’ood, may Allaah be pleased with him, said, ‘The emptiest houses are the ones most void of the Book of Allaah,’ [Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaibah, 30024], i.e., the houses having the least amount of good and blessings in them are the ones where the Book of Allaah is not recited, which is something which wipes out the blessings of a house and draws the devils to it.”
Selfies and Photos and Pictures …
May 11, 2018 § Leave a comment
Questioner: Is it allowed for a person to take pictures of himself to send to his family during Eed and such?
Ibn Baaz: There are numerous hadiths where the Prophet ﷺ forbade image-making [tasweer], cursed image-makers and threatened them with various types of punishment, so it is not allowed for a Muslim to take pictures of himself and of other living things except out of necessity for things such as passports, residency documents and so on.
Ibn al-Jawzee on People Using Jarh and Ta’deel as an Excuse for Revenge
May 11, 2018 § Leave a comment
Ibn al-Jawzee, may Allaah have mercy on him, said, “Part of the Devil’s deception of the People of Hadith (Ashaabul-Hadith) is their slander of each other for revenge, justifying that in the name of Jarh and Ta’deel, which the scholars of old of this Ummah used to use to defend the Legislation with, and Allaah knows best the intentions [of His Servants]. And a proof of their corrupt intentions is their silence concerning people they [themselves] take from—and the early scholars of the past were not like that—for Ali ibn al-Madini used to narrate from his father, who was a weak narrator, and then [after narrating from him] he would say, ‘And in the hadith of the Shaikh [i.e., his father] there is what there is …’”
Al-Muntaqan-Nafees min Talbees Iblees, pp. 123-124.
