A Shift

Assalamu ‘alaykum,

Recently, a new website has been launched http://www.peopleofsunnah.com aiming at spreading orthodox Islam and has a goal of providing people with an extensive library from where books in many different languages can be downloaded. Any new articles from me will be posted there. Everyone is requested to bookmark the website and share the link. This blog will remain dormant for the time being. Any questions on Islam can still be sent to the email address in the “Ask Questions” section.

Ma’ Salama

Fatwa on Pakistan sending troops to Iraq to assist U.S. army

By Mufti Taqi Uthmani (db)
Translated by Ebrahim Saifuddin

Question:

After request by the United States of America, Pakistan is thinking of sending its troops to Iraq to assist the U.S. army. Is it permissible for the Government of Pakistan to send its troops to Iraq to assist the U.S. army?

Is It Permissible to say ‘Non-Muslims are better than Muslims’?

By Mufti Abdul Raheem Lajpuri رحمۃ اللہ علیہ

Question:

Some Muslims sometimes say, “Non-Muslims are better than Muslims.” Is there anything wrong in saying this?

Islamic Ruling Regarding Videogames

By Mufti Muhammad Yusuf Ludhyanwi رحمۃ اللہ علیہ
Translated by Ebrahim Saifuddin

Q: What is the ruling regarding videogames, which are now prevalent in our society, if no betting or rewards for winning a game are involved in it and they normally consist of various things including sharpshooting etc.

Marriage without Wali

Marriage without Wali – The Hanafi Perspective

By Ebrahim Saifuddin

Introduction

Women require a wali (guardian) who ensures and secures their rights. The question over here is whether the woman needs permission from her wali to marry or whether she has the right to marry anyone whom she likes without permission. The Shafi’i, Maliki and Hanbali schools say that nikah entered into by a woman herself, without the permission of her wali, is invalid and void. The Hanafi ruling on this matter is that a woman can enter into a marital contract by herself without permission from her wali. The definition of such a “woman” will come later on and it does not incorporate every woman.

The position of all the four schools in Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama’a is that the rulings of all four schools of thought are valid. However, the ghair muqallid accuse the Ahnaf of following an opinion contrary to hadith. This allegation of theirs is quite baseless and it is only due to their superficial knowledge of hadith as well as of the ruling of the Hanafi school that they raise such allegations.

Wahdatul Wujood

Wahdat al-Wujud, Wahdat al-Shuhud and the Safest Position

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Zameelur Rahman

An original Deoband.org article

Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah and ‘Ali ibn Hujr al-Sa’di narrated to me: both from Sharik. Ibn Hujr said: Sharik informed us: from ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Umayr: from Abu Salamah: from Abu Hurayrah: from the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace): he said:

“The truest word spoken by a [pre-Islamic] Arab in poetry is this verse of Labid: Behold! Apart from Allah everything is vain.” (Sahih Muslim)

Some people adduce the poem of Labid (Allah be pleased with him) as proof that the doctrine of the Oneness of Being (Wahdat al-Wujud) is correct. This doctrine along with its corresponding doctrine of the Oneness of Perception (Wahdat al-Shuhud) is not among the doctrines that are necessary in the religion to know or to believe in their validity or invalidity. Rather it is best not to be preoccupied with it and not to discuss it, because it is a dangerous subject, discussion of which may lead to heresy (zandaqah) and apostasy (ilhad).

Tabarruk

Seeking Blessing through the Relics of the Prophets and the Pious

By Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani
Translated by Zameelur Rahman

An original Deoband.org article

Hamid ibn ‘Umar narrated to us: Abu ‘Awanah narrated to us: from Tariq: from Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab: he said:

“My father was one of those who pledged [allegiance] to Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace) at the tree^[1]. [My father al-Musayyab] said: ‘Then we proceeded [to Makkah] the following year, as pilgrims, and the tree’s location was hidden from us. So if it is clear to you, then you are more knowledgeable than us!’” (Sahih Muslim)

His statement “its place was hidden from us”: it is mentioned in the following narration: “then they forgot its location the following year”, and in the narration of al-Bukhari: “its location was unclear to us”. Ibn ‘Umar (Allah be pleased with them both) related the same incident according to al-Bukhari in Kitab al-Jihad (no. 2958). He said “We returned the following year and no two of us agreed about the location of the tree beneath which we pledged [allegiance]. This was a blessing from Allah.”

Al-Hafiz said in al-Fath (6:118) under the hadith of Ibn ‘Umar “The explanation of the wisdom behind this is that no misdeed will ensue as a result of the good that occurred beneath it. Were it to remain, it would not be safe from some ignorant people glorifying it, until it may lead them to the belief that it has the power to benefit or harm, as we see today plainly in that which is lesser than it [in value]. Ibn ‘Umar alluded to this by his statement ‘this was a blessing from Allah’ by which he meant its obscurity to them was a blessing from Allah Most High after that. It is possible that the meaning of his statement ‘a blessing from Allah’ is that the tree was the place of Allah’s mercy and the location of His pleasure, due to the descent of pleasure over the believers near it.”