Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said:
“This is not from the Sunnah, the Sunnah in the sermon of the marriage is to read the Sermon of Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنه, and it is famous and known, and if one left it off there is no harm, but it is better to read it.”
Source: Fatāwá Nūr ʿalá al-Darb (10: 110, no. 5055).
Sh. ʿUthaymīn, may Allāh have mercy upon him, was asked about mentioning individuals by name, the evil deeds they used to do, and how Allāh dealt with them, and whether that falls under backbiting.
He, may Allāh have mercy upon him, replied:
“Yes, mentioning the dead with respect to their evil deeds was prohibited by the Messenger, upon him be praise and protection, for he said, ‘Do not speak badly of the dead, for they have reached the result of what they have sent forth.’ [al-Bukhārī (1329)]. Rather, pardon and forgiveness is sought from Allāh for them, it may be that his supplication is answered for them, thereby Allāh forgives them and pardons them. As for mentioning their evil deeds, then they are to be mentioned in an unspecified manner, so it is said, for example, in warning against interest, ‘Have you not seen people who violated the prohibitions of Allāh and they engaged in dealing with interest, then they departed from this worldly life and none of their wealth was buried with them, rather they left it behind for others, thus the spoil is for others and the loss is for them?’ and what is similar to that by which the living can take heed, as for mentioning him specifically, then this is not permissible.”
Fatāwá Nūr ʿalá al-Darb (12: 487, no. 6679).
Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was asked how a Muslim should hold himself to account. The Shaykh mentioned the following points:
He should reflect over:
For example:
This is how one holds himself to account with respect to what he did and what he failed to do, in order to straighten any crookedness and remove any evil – this is the meaning of holding oneself to account.
Source: Fatāwá Nūr ʿalá al-Darb li Faḍīlat al-Shaykh al-ʿAllāmah Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn, 12: 16, no. 6190.
The Prophet ﷺ said fasting the Day of ʿArafah results in the expiation of sins of the year that has passed, and the year that is to come. He ﷺ also said that fasting the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ results in the expiation of the sins of the year that has passed [Muslim (1162 (197))].
Does this expiation of sins include major and minor sins, or just minor sins?
Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ explains that the apparent meaning of the ḥadīth indicates the expiation of both major and minor sins. This is because the Prophet ﷺ mentioned it in an unqualified manner and did not elaborate further, and whatever the Prophet ﷺ left unrestricted, it is taken to be unrestricted. This is why some scholars took the view, that the expiation of sins, refers to both minor and major because the Prophet ﷺ left it unrestricted, and did not elaborate further.
Most of the scholars take the view the expiation is only of minor sins. As for major sins then they must be accompanied with repentance. They support their view by arguing that fasting the Day of ʿArafah is not superior to the five daily prayers or Jumuʿah or Ramaḍān, and the Prophet ﷺ said, “The five daily prayers, Jumuʿah to Jumuʿah, and Ramaḍān to Ramaḍān, expiate what is between them as long as the major sins are avoided.” [Muslim (233)]. They say if these great and noble acts of worship, which are from the pillars of Islām, are not strong enough to expiate major sins, then this even more the case with this optional day of fasting. This is the weightier view – that it is qualified, just as the five daily prayers and Ramaḍān to Ramaḍān are qualified.
Source: Sharḥ Bulūgh al-Marām (7: 356).
Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ was asked:
The Shaykh رَحِمَهُ اللهُ replied:
“Optional deeds are of two types: a type which has a cause, and a type which does not have a cause.
The one which has a cause – it elapses along with the elapsing of the cause and is not made up. For example: the prayer for “greeting the masjid” (taḥiyyat al-masjid). If a man comes and sits down, and his sitting continues for a long time, and then he wants to pray taḥiyyat al-masjid, there is no taḥiyyat al-masjid because it is a prayer which has a cause, it is tied to a cause, so when it elapses so does its legality.
Similar to that is what is apparent with the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ. If a person delays fasting the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ without an excuse, there is no doubt he does not make it up, and it will not benefit him if he did make it up, meaning: it will not benefit him in that being [a substitute for] the Day of ʿArafah and the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ.
As for the case where it passes by a person while he is excused, such as the menstruating woman, the one experiencing post-natal bleeding, and the ill, then what is apparent is that it is not made up because this is specific to a specific day, the ruling of which elapses with the elapsing of that day.”
Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 43, no. 399).
In the Name of Allāh, the Most Merciful, the Giver of Special Mercy
All praise is due to Allāh the Most High and Most Great, the One Who is alone in creating and controlling, the One Who honoured His friends with His help, and humiliated His enemies through His forsaking [of them], so how excellent a Protector is our Lord, and how excellent a Helper is He.
I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allāh alone without any partners, to Him belong the Kingdom and praise, and He is, over all thing, completely capable. And I bear witness that Muḥammad is His slave and His Messenger; the bringer of glad tidings, the warner, and shining lantern, may the praise and protection of Allāh be upon him, his family, his Companions, and those who follow them in excellence until the Day of Recompense.
To proceed:
Indeed, in this month, the month of Muḥarram, was the salvation of Mūsá, may praise and protection be upon him, and his people from the enemy of Allāh – Pharaoh and his army. By Allāh it was a major blessing obligating gratitude towards Allāh the Almighty and Majestic. This is why, when the Prophet ﷺ arrived in al-Madīnah, and he found the Jews fasting the tenth day of this month, the Prophet ﷺ said, “I have more right to Mūsá than you”, thus he fasted it and commanded its fasting. He was asked about the virtue of fasting it and he said, “I hope in Allāh that it may expiate for (the sins of) the year that came before it.” After that he commanded contradicting the Jews by fasting the tenth and a day before it which is the ninth, or a day after it which is the eleventh.
Consequently, it is best to fast the tenth day and add to it a day before it, or a day after it. Adding the ninth day to it is better than the eleventh.
Thus, it is necessary for you, my Muslim brother, to fast the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, likewise the ninth day, in order to actualise contradicting the Jews which the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ commanded.
May Allāh facilitate success for me and you to be grateful for His blessings, and worship Him with excellence, and may He protect us from the evils of our souls through His care – indeed He is the Most Generous and Most Bountiful.
I have no objections to spreading it (i.e., this letter).
Written by Muḥammad al-Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn 21/12/1409.
Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 39-40).
Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said:
“The scholars say, regarding the fasting of the Day of ʿĀshūrāʾ, that it is either [fasted] on its own, or he fasts with it the 9th, or he fasts with it the 11th. There is a fourth mode: which is to fast the 9th, 10th, and 11th – so it is three days of the month.
It is better for the one who wants to fast two days, that he fasts the 9th and the 10th.”
See: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (20: 35, no. 395).
On the authority of Abū ʿAbd Allāh Jābir b. ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī, may Allāh be pleased with them both, who said, “We were with the Prophet ﷺ on a military expedition and he said, “Indeed in al-Madīnah, there are men (who have been left behind); you have not covered any distance, nor crossed any valley, except that they were with you – they were held back by illness.”
And in a narration: “except that they shared the reward with you.”
Reported by Muslim (1911).
Sh. Muḥammad b. Ṣāliḥ al-ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله makes the following points, regarding this ḥadīth, in his explanation of Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn (1: 36-38):
The word ghazāh and ghazwah mean the same thing, i.e., military expedition.
If a person intends to do a righteous deed, however he is prevented by an obstacle, he will have recorded for him, the reward of what he intended.
If he used to do a good deed when he was capable of doing it, then he became incapable afterwards, he will have the reward of the complete deed recorded for him, because the Prophet ﷺ said, “If a slave becomes ill, or he travels, he will have recorded for him the like of what he used to do when resident and healthy” [al-Bukhārī (2996)].
The one who wishes for good and is keen on it, if doing that good deed was his habit, but then he was prevented by an obstacle from doing it, he will have the complete rewarded recorded for him.
Examples:
(1) If it was the habit of the person to pray in congregation in the masjid, and he was then prevented from attending due to sleep or illness etc, he will have the complete reward of having prayed in congregation without any deduction.
(2) If it was his habit to pray optional prayers, but he was then prevented by something making him unable to pray them, he will have the complete reward written for him.
(3) If it was his habit to fast three days out of every month, then he was incapable of that and was prevented by something, he will have the complete reward recorded for him.
There are many other examples like this.
If it was not his habit to do that good deed, he will have the reward of the intention written for him but not the reward of the action.
The proof for this is the ḥadīth in which the poor Companions mentioned to the Prophet ﷺ about how the rich Companions had gone ahead of them in terms of charity and freeing slaves. The Prophet ﷺ taught them to do tasbīḥ, takbīr and taḥmīd 33 times each after every obligatory prayer, and that if they did that, none would equal them, except one who does the same. The rich heard about this and began doing this good deed as well! The poor Companions went back to the Prophet ﷺ and said that their rich brothers were doing the same as them. The Prophet ﷺ replied, “This is the grace of Allāh, He gives it to whom He wishes.” He did not say that you have achieved the reward of their deed, but there is no doubt that they will have the reward for the intention of the deed [al-Bukhārī (843)].
This is why the Prophet ﷺ said regarding the one to whom Allāh gave wealth, and he spends it in the paths of goodness, and there is a poor man who sees this and says, ‘If I had the money of so-and-so I would have done the same deed’; the Prophet ﷺ said regarding this person, “He has his intention, so their rewards are the same.” [al-Tirmidhī (2325)]. Meaning: the same in the reward of the intention, as for the deed itself, its reward is not recorded for him, unless it was something he used to do habitually.
This ḥadīth contains an indication that whoever goes out in the path of Allāh in a military expedition, he will be rewarded for his walking, this is why the Prophet ﷺ said, “…you have not covered any distance nor crossed any valley but they are with you…”.
This is indicated by Allāh’s statement: {It was not [proper] for the people of Madīnah and those surrounding them of the Bedouins that they remain behind after [the departure of] the Messenger of Allāh or that they prefer themselves over his self. That is because they are not afflicted by thirst or fatigue or hunger in the cause of Allāh, nor do they tread on any ground that enrages the disbelievers, nor do they inflict upon an enemy any infliction but that it is registered for them as a righteous deed. Indeed, Allāh does not allow to be lost the reward of the doers of good. Nor do they spend an expenditure, small or large, or cross a valley but that it is registered for them that Allāh may reward them for the best of what they were doing.} [al-Tawbah (9): 120-121].
What is similar to this is when a man performs well ablution at home, and then goes out to the masjid – not being brought out of his house except for prayer – then indeed there is no step that he takes except that Allāh raises him one level by it, and removes one sin by it.
This is from the grace of Allāh, the Almighty and Majestic, that the means of deeds contain this reward which the Prophet ﷺ has explained to us.
And Allāh is the facilitator of success.
Sh. Ibn al-ʿUthaymīn رحمه الله replied:
“This verse contains a great sentence which is: restriction of reverential fear (خَشْيَة) of Allāh سبحانه وتعالى to the scholars.
Reverential fear is: fear coupled with veneration of the feared, i.e., it is fear that comes as a result of the greatness of the one feared. Allāh is the most deserving of being feared with reverence, and He is the most deserving of being venerated, and He is the most deserving of being feared. However, none has reverential fear of Him except one who is knowledgeable of the greatness, ultimate pride, ability, and honourable might that He possesses.
The scholars intended here (in this verse) are those knowledgeable of Allāh, His Names, His Attributes, and His signs. The intent is not the scholars of manufacturing and technology etc, for indeed those are scholars of the dunyá who know the apparent worldly life, and that is because reverential fear only comes from knowing the condition of the one feared, and it is known that knowledge of these crafts is not connected to the greatness of Allāh عز وجل for it is purely material, in contrast to knowledge of Allāh and His greatness, and so the people who are knowledgeable of this, they are the people who have reverential fear of Him.”
Source: Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (26: 26).
I ask Allāh, the Almighty and Majestic, to grant us all reverential fear of Him.
Is it Better to Pray Night Prayer or Seek Knowledge?
Sh. al-ʿUthaymīn رَحِمَهُ اللهُ said, “Seeking knowledge is better than night prayer because seeking knowledge, as Imām Aḥmad said, nothing equals it for the one who corrects his intention, in that he intends through it to lift ignorance from himself and from others. Thus, if a person stays awake in the first part of the night to seek knowledge seeking the Face of Allāh, whether he be studying or teaching people, then indeed it is better than night prayer. If it is possible for him to combine both matters then that is better.
However, if the two matters clash with each other, seeking knowledge of the Sharīʿah is better and more deserving. This is why the Prophet ﷺ commanded Abū Hurayrah that he pray Witr before sleeping. The scholars say the reason for that is because Abū Hurayrah would memorise the aḥādīth of the Prophet ﷺ in the first part of the night and sleep in the latter part of the night, so the Prophet ﷺ directed him to pray Witr before he sleeps.”
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwá (14: 113, no. 751).
Salafi Knowledge 