Ibnat Battuta: The Complete Hanafi…

The Complete Ablution (Wudu)

The Complete Purificatory Bath (Ghusl)

The Complete Hanafi Prayer

Also of benefit, as a primer on beliefs, worship, and life:

The
Absolute Essentials of Islam

A Basic Hanafi
Primer on Faith, Prayer, & the Path of Salvation. Allah has
commanded us to worship and obey Him, with sincerity, out of reverence [more]

Is (He who knows himself, Knows his Lord) a hadith of the Prophet?
from SunniPath Answers

SunniPath Answers (Audio):
An Active Heart: Answers for a Student in Activism But Struggling Spiritually   

These are recorded answers to questions from a Muslim student involved in Islamic
activism, but struggling spiritually.

Audio: An Active Heart: 01 - Presence of Heart in
Prayer

Audio: An Active Heart: 02 - Waking up for Fajr

Audio: An Active Heart: 03 - Leaving Activism
for Prayer

Audio: An Active Heart: 04 - Fear of wrong
motivation when doing the good

Audio: An Active Heart: 05 - Can the thought to
keep doing more be from the Devil?

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):
Wishing your wife was dead so that you can marry someone else
Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):
Faraz Rabbani shows to be need more substance and less kalaam

I have found some of your questions informative and beneficial and I have found some to be lacking in the basic discipline of wisdom and ‘ilm which brother Faraz has shown to be lacking. Either his personal hate of the Ahlul Hadeeth or the Salafiyyah jama’ah is getting in the way of objective criticism and analaysis or either he is not qualified to answer questions related to aqeedah and manhaj of the Messenger of Allaah SAW and the Sahabah RA.

Answer

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):
Feeling overwhelmed by makeup prayers

Question: I am a Muslim convert and without realizing it, I had learned the prayer wrong. I didn’t say the al-Fatiha and another surah for the first two rakaats of Zuhr and Asr, and I didn’t say them for the last set of rakaats in Maghrib and Isha. I thought one was supposed to remain silent and not say anything. My questions are 1) Do I still have to make them up? 2) I’m trying to make up my prayers but adding this to my sunnah and witr prayer is extremely difficult and 3) why is the witr prayer wajib in the Hanafi madhab? I feel my iman is drained and I have difficulty concentrating because of all the prayers I have to do.

Answer

Insha’Allah Copying and Pasting Fi’Sabilillah

“…It is unimaginably different, and unimaginable, eternal bliss. Worry about getting there: then, you’ll have no worries…”

From: What will people do in paradise - SunniPath Answers

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)
Is standing in line Islamically wrong?

Question: A Muslim acquaintance of ours recently told us that it was “un-Islamic” to queue, for example in a bank or in a line of traffic, as queueing meant you knew who was next which was the equivalent of seeing into the future, which is not allowed. I would be interested in your opinion of this as I expect that Islam also upholds an individual’s responsibility to consider others in daily life, which would mean taking your place in a queue, just out of politeness.

[Read Answer]

“Slander, backbiting, holding one’s tongue and leaving that which does not concern one”

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=3208&CATE=37

“Importance of holding one’s tongue”

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=3587&CATE=17

“Fiqh for the Righteousness: The prohibition against backbiting…”

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=781&CATE=3

“The Rules of Backbiting”

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=212&CATE=13

Riyad as-Salihin

Book on Things which are Forbidden

• 254. The prohibition against backbiting and the command to guard the tongue
• 255. On the prohibition against listening to backbiting
• 256. On what is permitted in talking about people
• 257. On the prohibition against slander, which is carrying tales between people
• 258.
  On the prohibition against carrying tales and things that people have
  said to those in authority if there is no need for that
• 259. On the censure of being two-faced
• 260. On the prohibition against lying
• 261. On the clarification of what lying is permitted
• 262. On the encouragement to verify what one says and relates
• 263. On the clarification of the severe prohibition against giving false witness
• 264. On the prohibition against cursing a man or an animal

SunniPath Answers:
How do I deal with a husband who is unreasonable and quick to get angry?
Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Why is Iblis (Satan) a disbeliever?

I know that Iblis will never enter Jannah, but I don’t clearly understand why because if everyone who has Imaan will enter Jannah eventually, didn’t Iblis worship Allah constantly for thousands of years? Doesn’t he also believe that Allah is only one, and doesn’t he also believe in the Day of Judgment?

[read answer]

Investing & Sunnipath - Mind, Body, Soul

Din seeking the Deen: Anger: An Islamic psychological perspective

Pornography in Marriage
Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):

Beard & Parents & following another madhhab

I'’m an Indian Muslim. While studying in
America, I started keeping a beard, and grew it to a sunna fist-length,
and have kept it since (Alhamdulillahi) However, since I'’ve returned to Hyderabad, my father is firmly
insistent that I shorten (trim, not shave) my beard in order to be more
socially and work-wise acceptable. My father considers my obeying him
from a son’’s duty towards his parents, and is insistent. Now: I understand that in the Hanafi school it is wajib. Thus, would
it be sinful to trim my beard–following the Shafi`i school that says
doing so is not sinful (and the other schools, too, from what I
understand)? I'’m very stressed by this, as this is in every conversation with my
father, and he is very grieved by all of this. He even ascribes his
past and current illness to my full beard. I try to be a dutiful son, so all this is saddening me. To what
extent is a full beard more important than a loving parent’’s hurt
feelings?

Local scholars (and other Hanafis from the Pakistan as well) have
simply stated that the beard is wajib and can'’t be trimmed–but I
should remain polite with my father.What do I do? Do I keep my beard full, or trim (intending to follow the Shafi`i position)?

Read answer

SunniPath Answers Live

SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com):
I’m a woman in my early 40’s and I feel sexually frustrated

What kind of stone was on the Prophet’s ring? (Allah bless him and give him peace)
Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

My mind has gone dull

Answered by Shaykh Abdul-Karim Yahya
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Can we weep when in grief?
Answered by Wajihah Gregor
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Allah Almighty sends us trials and
tribulations for an outstanding wisdom, of which we will never
completely understand the reasons for, and the effects of, until the
hereafter.

Allah Most High says, “Blessed is He in Whose hand is the
Sovereignty, and, He is Able to do all things. Who hath created life
and death that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He
is the Mighty, the Forgiving.” (67: 1-2. Trans. Pickthall)

Through this exalted and merciful speech, we understand that Allah
sends us trials and tribulations in order to test our actions and
behavior.

We may be tested with death, sickness, oppression, a broken heart,
or confusion about the world around us. These experiences can inspire
feelings of shock, fear, pain, and sorrow. Such strong emotions may
cause us to weep.

Weeping is a natural response the powerful emotions we feel during
trial and tribulation and do express our complete neediness and
dependence to the Lord Almighty, when accompanied by the attitude of
submission to the Will of Allah. In this way, weeping certainly does
not contradict the act of patience.

Muslim WakeUp! Consent? What consent?

A critique of SunniPath Answer on sexual rights in marriage….
[Note: only one small part–the legal ruling–of the answer was given, taking out a lot of religious counsel. See:

Is it not a form of sexual abuse for a husband to be able to force his wife to have sex?
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1830&CATE=117

And compare with the quoted answer at:

Muslim WakeUp! Consent? What consent? ]

I’m going to work on a clarification, insha’Allah, but a few points are worth contemplating:

(1) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) emphasized this “right to insist” in rigorously authenticated hadiths.

(2) These hadiths must be understood in light of the Qur’anic command and Sunna guidance to live one’s marriage with excellence, mercy, love, a spirit of giving, and empathy.

(3) Someone aware of marital issues realizes the harm of husbands or wives refusing to fulfill their spouse’s sexual rights. There are many related answers–offering not only the legal ruling, but also giving religious guidance–on this at SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com). There are many answers on wives refusing to consummate their marriage (in one answer, eight months into the marriage and living together), but at no time do SunniPath Answers counsel anything other than resolving marital differences on the basis of excellence, mercy, and love that are the essence of the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunna.

(4) Both the husband and the wife have the full religious right to seek the fulfillment of their sexual rights within marriage. The difference–established clearly from the guidance of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)–is the husband’s right to insist.

(5) This right to insist does not mean in any way that the husband can “rape” this wife or use physical aggression (or even emotional coercion) to seek his right.

(6) Means take the ruling of ends. Some of the rulings of the Shariah are means to fulfillling higher objectives. The objective here in the rulings on “the right to insist” on sex in marriage is to establish the practical means for marriages to stay today, rather than drifting off in sexual or emotional infidelity–a problem all too common in contemporary marriages.

More on this soon, insha’Allah.

One good thing out of this, insha’Allah, is that SunniPath Answers will have a disclaimer that all legal rulings have to be understood and applied in the spirit of the sunna of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); and that people need to understand the difference between a legal ruling (hukm) and religious counsel (irshad).

And Allah alone gives success.

Muslim WakeUp! Consent? What consent?

A critique of SunniPath Answer on sexual rights in marriage….
[Note: only one small part–the legal ruling–of the answer was given, taking out a lot of religious counsel. See:

Is it not a form of sexual abuse for a husband to be able to force his wife to have sex?
http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=1&ID=1830&CATE=117

And compare with the quoted answer at:

Muslim WakeUp! Consent? What consent? ]

I’m going to work on a clarification, insha’Allah, but a few points are worth contemplating:

(1) The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) emphasized this “right to insist” in rigorously authenticated hadiths.

(2) These hadiths must be understood in light of the Qur’anic command and Sunna guidance to live one’s marriage with excellence, mercy, love, a spirit of giving, and empathy.

(3) Someone aware of marital issues realizes the harm of husbands or wives refusing to fulfill their spouse’s sexual rights. There are many related answers–offering not only the legal ruling, but also giving religious guidance–on this at SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com). There are many answers on wives refusing to consummate their marriage (in one answer, eight months into the marriage and living together), but at no time do SunniPath Answers counsel anything other than resolving marital differences on the basis of excellence, mercy, and love that are the essence of the guidance of the Qur’an and Sunna.

(4) Both the husband and the wife have the full religious right to seek the fulfillment of their sexual rights within marriage. The difference–established clearly from the guidance of the Beloved Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)–is the husband’s right to insist.

(5) This right to insist does not mean in any way that the husband can “rape” this wife or use physical aggression (or even emotional coercion) to seek his right.

(6) Means take the ruling of ends. Some of the rulings of the Shariah are means to fulfillling higher objectives. The objective here in the rulings on “the right to insist” on sex in marriage is to establish the practical means for marriages to stay today, rather than drifting off in sexual or emotional infidelity–a problem all too common in contemporary marriages.

More on this soon, insha’Allah.

One good thing out of this, insha’Allah, is that SunniPath Answers will have a disclaimer that all legal rulings have to be understood and applied in the spirit of the sunna of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); and that people need to understand the difference between a legal ruling (hukm) and religious counsel (irshad).

And Allah alone gives success.

Am I still considered a virgin when it comes to marriage if I erred and committed zina years ago?
Faraz Rabbani
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Can I delay giving up my virginity until my husband loses weight?
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

What is your advice about meetup and other social websites
Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

I just want to die, because I’ve committed a very serious sin

Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

Dealing with non-muslim family

Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

How can i persuade my husband to try to reconcile our marriage?
Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Husband not having sex with wife
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)
Answered by Ustadha Shazia Ahmad

Ask Imam :: Fatwa on the Prohibition of “Ya Rasul Allah Madad”

The Question: i just wanted to get one thing more cleared up. The folks at sunnipath,
seem to give the impression that permissibility of using words like
“Yarasoolullah madad” is the view of majority of ummah

The Answer:

It is important to understand a fundamental issue
regarding substantiations in Shari’ah. The order and sequence of
substantiations is as follows: a) Qur’aan, b) Hadith, c) Ijmaa and, d)
Qiyaas (analogy)

Majority ruling as a substantiation follows far beyond the four
fundamental substantiations. It is only when there are no
substantiations preceding that and there are differences of opinion
among contemporary Ulama. The issue in reference, saying ‘Yaa Rasoolullah’ and seeking help from Rasoolullah [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] is clear. Only Allah is Omnipresent and we seek the help of Allah Alone. It is obsolutely incorrect to regard Rasulullah [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] as Omnipresent and address him as ‘Yaa Rasoolullah’ with that belief. It is also incorrect to seek the assistance of Rasoolullah [sallallaahu alayhi wasallam] and address him as ‘Yaa Madad’. The prohibition of these two issues are clearly in the very first source of substantiations – the Qur’aan. There is no need to consider the issue from an angle of majority view. Consider this – Allah condemns Kufr whereas the majority of the world is in Kufr. Will that make Kufr correct?

Comment: How does that make one different from Salafis?

Imam Taqi al-Din Subki makes clear that tawassul (seeking means) and istighatha (calling upon others) are conceptually the very same, and that they were both permitted by the imams of early and late Islamic scholarship, without noteworthy disagreement until Ibn Taymiyya came along in the 7th Islamic Century.

Imam Muhammad Zahid al-Kawthari wrote a brilliant treatise, Mahq al-Taqawwul fi Mas’alat al-Tawassul (see Arabic text), explaining how the permissibility of tawassul is entailed by sound Sunni understanding of Divine Oneness and the difference between means and effects.

Imam Kawthari (Allah have mercy on him) is regarded as an Imam in the Islamic Sciences and the “Sword of Ahl al-Sunna” by the ulema across the Muslim lands was because he truly had [a] mastery right across the Islamic sciences; [b] very wide reading built on that mastery; [c] clear understanding of the way of Ahl al-Sunna; [d] commitment to that way.

As for Istighatha [calling upon the dead], see:
Istighatha: Calling Someone Other Than
Allah for Help
Calling on Other than Allah?

Related answers:

Sunni Saint Worshippers? - Shaykh Nuh Keller

Istighatha: Calling Someone Other Than
Allah for Help - Shaykh Muhammad ibn Adam

Tawassul Through the Awliya

Tawassul through the pious

Making tawassul through one’s actions

Tawassul of `Umar through al-`Abbas

Al-Shafi`i’s Tawassul with Abu Hanifa

Calling on Other than Allah?

We need to understand are a few issues:

a) It is a fundamental belief of Muslims that only Allah benefits or harms; that only Allah gives and takes;

b) It is also a fundamental belief of Muslims that Allah has created means for humans to take;

c) However, the relationship between these created means and their effects is only normative: it is Allah who creates the means, and Allah who creates the results.

This is why Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri (Allah have mercy on him), the great spiritual guide and master of the sciences of faith (aqida) from Damascus, explained,

“Taking means is necessary, and denying that they are effective is
necessary. Whoever negates means is denying the Wisdom of Allah, and
whoever relies upon means is associating others with Allah.”

This is the understanding upon which Muslims ‘call upon other than Allah.’

It is no different from taking medicine when sick, or going to a mechanic when your car is giving trouble: if you think that the medicine itself creates the healing, or that the mechanic is the one himself creates the fixing, then you have serious innovation in belief. It is conceptually the same as asking another Muslim in person to make dua for us–we do so understanding that their dua for us is a means, and that it is Allah alone who gives.
The sound understanding is that Allah creates the healing when you use the medicine, and He creates the fixing when the mechanic does their job: we affirm these means, but also affirm that it is Allah who created both the means and the resultant effect.

This is pure affirmation of Divine Oneness. How can it ‘smack of shirk’?

A few nice songs:

Ya Imam al-Rusli - Ustadh Mahmoud Faris

Ya Rasul Allahi Ya Sanadi - Maghribi

al-Wadhifa al-Shadhiliyya - Recited by Shaykh Amjad Rasheed. The Wadhifa contains a high understanding of the spiritual reality of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

Madad Ya Rasul Allah - Khalid Belrhouzi

The Fiqh of Sending Peace & Blessings on the Prophet ( Allah bless him with the best of blessings and give him the most perfect of peace)

Answered by Sidi Sohail Hanif

The Way of Sunni Islam - A Reader

What do the scholars such as Shaykh Hamza Yusuf
and Shaykh Nuh Keller (may Allah ta’ala bless and preserve them) mean
when they refer to “traditional Islam”?

Whose opinion is given precedence in the child’s upbringing: the mother or the father?  Answered by Fareeha Khan

The duty of caring for children and providing
them with a good upbringing is one that falls upon both the father and
the mother. The parents are responsible for taking care of their
children’s religious as well as worldly needs, and it is up to both of
them to try and protect their children from harm. [read more]

More Women than Men in Hell? - SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

More Women than Men in Hell?
Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

I came across this Hadith and was very disheartened… [read more]

Pregnancy and my options - Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

I think I may have accidentally got a girl pregnant…. [more]

Some Recommended Books in Hanafi Fiqh

Reading questions relating to intimacy

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “Actions are by intentions.”

Thus, one should look at

(a) the motives behind one’s actions

(b) the soundness and propriety of one’s actions according to the Qur’an and Sunna, and

(c) the consequences of one’s actions,

and act accordingly.

And Allah alone gives success.

Faraz Rabbani

Surviving as a Muslim On-CampusAnswered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.asp?HD=7&ID=7583&CATE=3600

SunniPath
Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Source: SunniPath Answers

A lot of people wonder about bank interest, mortgages, and “ways out” to allow them to buy a house…

One should remember the saying that, “Seek a fatwa that is a means of salvation, not a fatwa that simply pleases you.”

Answers related to mortgages and interest, from the SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

Converted from Hinduism: how do I deal with parents strongly opposed to Islam?
SunniPath Answers (http://qa.sunnipath.com)

2005/10/02
7
3600

I recently converted to Islam from Hinduism–the religion of my parents. My mother (who has a medical condition) gets very, very angry whenever she sees or sees anything related to Islam. Sometimes she gets violent… and then it harms her physical health. She’s getting depressed. I don’t fight her, but I’m just trying to do my thing as a Muslim….
Converted from Hinduism: how do I deal with parents strongly opposed to Islam?

Answered by Ustadha Zaynab Ansari

Sunni Sister: Blahg Blahg Blahg » Blog Archive » Kewl SunniPath.com Stuff

Salaam ‘Alaikum

Some cool things from an essential
site. This isn’t everything that I’d put in my book as
personal faves, but just a few interesting things for you to browse.

A Reader on Islamic Spirituality (Sufism)
Links to a wealth of writings and q&as on the topic of tasawwuf,
aka “Sufism.” Come learn about tasawwuf as it truly should
be taught and learned. Plus, “What is this “Sufism” that some love and others hate?” and “Are Sufis Outside of Sunnis?”, as well as “Am I a Sufi??”

Why is There So Much Concern with Adab in Islam?

Dhikr by Word and Action

What is the Benefit of Reciting the Litanies of the Sufis?

Understanding the Sinlessness of the Prophets

The Honor of Sending Blessings upon the Beloved (peace be upon him)

Implementing the Sunnah with Wisdom

The Way of Sunni Islam: the Creed of Imam al Haddad on ‘Ashari ‘aqida. I find this very easy to read and understand, and think it would be very useful for many.

The Strangeness of the Sunnah and its Adherents

Qur’an & Sunnah: Both Necessities

The Sunnah is the Second Source of Shari’ah

Jesus Christ son of Mary and His Blessed Mother (peace be upon them)

Bad Opinions of Others

Dhikr Performed in a Group

Actions & Sincerity