Women and the Mosque (Ahadith 823 – 832)

Salam,
Bismillah.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 823:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

Once Allah’s Apostle delayed the ‘Isha’ prayer till ‘Umar informed him that the women and children had slept. The Prophet came out and said, “None except you from amongst the dwellers of earth is waiting for this prayer.” In those days, there was no prayer except in Medina and they used to pray the ‘Isha’ prayer between the disappearance of the twilight and the first third of the night.

Proves that women used to go to mosques in Prophet (SAW)’s time. Similar Hadih here.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 824:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

The Prophet said, “If your women ask permission to go to the mosque at night, allow them.”

Very clear-cut. Concentrate on the ‘asking permission’ part, women! :P

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 825:

Narrated Um Salama (the wife of the Prophet):

In the lifetime of Allah’s Apostle the women used to get up when they finished their compulsory prayers with Taslim. The Prophet and the men would stay on at their places as long as Allah will. When the Prophet got up, the men would then get up.

Men wait for the women to leave, and then they leave. It’s better to separate pathways. Similar Hadith here.

Women should leave for homes immediately after the prayer. Lurking around uselessly is not appreciated.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 826:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

When Allah’s Apostle finished the Fajr prayer, the women would leave covered in their sheets and were not recognized owing to the darkness.

Women ‘covered in sheets’.. A Muslim women should cover herself, well enough. Use sheets (read: long pieces) of cloth, sewn or un-sewn.

Women may go to the mosques in dark as well.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 827:

Narrated ‘Abdullah bin Abi Qatada Al-Ansari:

My father said, “Allah’s Apostle said, “Whenever I stand for prayer, I want to prolong it but on hearing the cries of a child, I would shorten it as I dislike to put its mother in trouble.”

Aww-ness. Women deserve that and so much more. :)

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 828:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

Had Allah’s Apostle known what the women were doing, he would have forbidden them from going to the mosque as the women of Bani Israel had been forbidden. Yahya bin Said (a sub-narrator) asked ‘Amra (another sub-narrator), “Were the women of Bani Israel forbidden?” She replied “Yes.”

I don’t know what `Aisha (RA) meant when she said “had Allah’s Apostle known what the women were doing..”, so can’t comment on that.

But yeah, Jewish women weren’t allowed to go to mosques. Poor creatures!
Alhamdulillah for Islam! <3

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 829:

Narrated Um Salama:

Whenever Allah’s Apostle completed the prayer with Taslim, the women used to get up immediately and Allah’s Apostle would remain at his place for someone before getting up. (The sub-narrator (Az-Zuhri) said, “We think, and Allah knows better, that he did so, so that the women might leave before men could get in touch with them).”

Repeat: “women used to leave immediately”.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 830:

Narrated Anas:

The Prophet prayed in the house of Um Sulaim; and I, along with an orphan stood behind him while Um Sulaim (stood) behind us.

Women CAN pray directly behind men. Screen not required, essentially.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 831:

Narrated ‘Aisha:

Allah’s Apostle used to offer the Fajr prayer when it was still dark and the believing women used to return (after finishing their prayer) and nobody could recognize them owing to darkness, or they could not recognize one another.

Repeated Hadith.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 832:

Narrated Salim bin ‘Abdullah:

My father said, “The Prophet said, ‘If the wife of any one of you asks permission (to go to the mosque) do not forbid her.”

Umar (RA) disliked her wife going to the masjid, but he never stopped her if she asked him permission to go. Because Prophet (SAW) ordered men not to forbid their wives from going.

P.S. Book of Characteristics of Prayer ends here. Book of Friday Prayer starts after it inshaAllah.

Wassalam.

Deriving Lessons from Hadith (Hadith No. 822)

Salam,
Bismillah.

These are repeats: Ahadith 818, 819, 820 and 821.

Prophet (SAW) was a perfect man. His words and actions were full of wisdom. Surely we have a lot  to learn from him. Everyone can derive lessons from a simple Hadith according to his/her level of understanding. A child will learn something from a Hadith, an adult will learn two or three things from that same Hadith. Whereas doctors, engineers, psychologists, nutritionists, lawyers, fuqahaa’, businessmen will all have a different approach to that one Hadith.

This is why while going through Bukhari, it’s weird that some Ahadith (apparently) have no connection with the chapter they’re written under. And that one Hadith is repeated around 20 times (more or less) in different chapters But it makes one realize how deep Imam Bukhari’s understanding was, that he could derive so many lessons from one Hadith. MashaAllah. May Allah have mercy on him, and grant him Jannat-ul-Firdaws. And may He grant me a chance to meet him in Jannah as well. <3

So I’ll study today’s Hadith, and try to derive as many lessons as possible. You give it a shot as well!

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 822:

Narrated ‘Abdur Rahman bin ‘Abis:

A person asked Ibn Abbas, “Have you ever presented yourself at the (‘Id) prayer with Allah’s Apostle?” He replied, “Yes.” And had it not been for my kinship (position) with the Prophet it would not have been possible for me to do so (for he was too young). The Prophet went to the mark near the house of Kathir bin As-Salt and delivered a sermon. He then went towards the women. He advised and reminded them and asked them to give alms. So the woman would bring her hand near her neck and take off her necklace and put it in the garment of Bilal. Then the Prophet and Bilal came to the house.”

• One learns a lot by asking questions. Develop the habit! BUT, avoid pointless questions.
• Good company will lead to good influence, and eventually good deeds inshaAllah.
• Take your family along while going for `Id prayer. Men, women, boys, girls are all encouraged to gather for `Id prayer.
• Teaching women is important. Teaching them ‘especially’ is important as well (hint: sisters-only halaqahs). They’re the mothers of the Ummah. They’re awesome like that. :)
• It is permissible to ask for donations – for a good cause.

I can’t think of anything else right now. Can you?

Wassalam.

The Friday Ghusl (Hadith No. 817)

Salam,
Bismillah.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 817:

Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri:

The Prophet said, “Ghusl (taking a bath) on Friday is compulsory for every Muslim reaching the age of puberty.”

Fuqahaa’ (experts in Islamic jurisprudence) say it’s mustahabb (recommended) to do ghusl on Fridays.
As for the question about women’s doing ghusl on Fridays, read this.

Do read about some other virtues of Friday. :)

Wassalam.

How’d You Know? (Hadith No. 816)

Salam,
Bismillah.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 816:

Narrated Sulaiman Ash-Shaibam:

I heard Ash-Sha’bi saying, “A person who was accompanying the Prophet passed by a grave that was separated from the other graves told me that the Prophet once led the people in the (funeral) prayer and the people had aligned behind him. I said, “O Aba ‘Amr! Who told you about it?” He said, “Ibn Abbas.”

Taking the last part of this Hadith.. I’d like to bring your attention to a certain matter: reporting. There’s some manners to it.

A Muslim is (ideally) an honest and trustworthy person. Whatever comes out of his mouth should be nothing but the truth. And this automatically entails that whatever incident he reports and any person that he quotes, is 100% truth. It’s his responsibility to make sure that he doesn’t forward a report (via speech, email or text messaging etc.) without verifying it. Yes, it’s a tough job. But it’s worthwhile because:

Ibn ‘Umar reported said that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The worst of lies is when a man says his eyes have seen something which they have not seen.” [al-Bukhari]

And:

It is sufficient for a believer to be considered a liar that he narrates everything he hears. [Muslim]

So when someone tells you about something, ask them: how’d you know?

P.S. sharing statuses, retweeting tweets comes in this category as well. Make SURE to do your research before you press that button!

Wassalam.

Garlic, Onion and the Mosque (Ahadith 812 – 815)

Salam,
Bismillah.

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 812:

Narrated Ibn ‘Umar:

During the holy battle of Khaibar the Prophet said, “Whoever ate from this plant (i.e. garlic) should not enter our mosque.”

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 813:

Narrated ‘Ata’:

I heard Jabir bin ‘Abdullah saying, “The Prophet said, ‘Whoever eats (from) this plant (he meant garlic) should keep away from our mosque.” I said, “What does he mean by that?” He replied, “I think he means only raw garlic.”

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 814:

Narrated Jabir bin ‘Abdullah:

The Prophet said, “Whoever eats garlic or onion should keep away from our mosque or should remain in his house.” (Jabir bin ‘Abdullah, in another narration said, “Once a big pot containing cooked vegetables was brought. On finding unpleasant smell coming from it, the Prophet asked, ‘What is in it?’ He was told all the names of the vegetables that were in it. The Prophet ordered that it should be brought near to some of his companions who were with him. When the Prophet saw it he disliked to eat it and said, ‘Eat. (I don’t eat) for I converse with those whom you don’t converse with (i.e. the angels).”

Seriously, that bad? :/

Volume 1, Book 12, Number 815:

Narrated ‘Abdul ‘Aziz:

A man asked Anas, “What did you hear from the Prophet about garlic?” He said, “The Prophet said, ‘Whoever has eaten this plant should neither come near us nor pray with us.”

Us Pakistanis enjoy onion and garlic in our food a lot. Well, most of us. Alhamdulillah. Nothing wrong with that. But one must be careful about one thing: don’t pray at home/in the masjid when your mouth reeks of onion or garlic (or any other foul smell, for the matter).
Think about it, Salah is like whispering to your Loved One. Would you like to have bad breath at that time? :/

Solution: brush your teeth after eating such food. Clean your tongue well. Use mouth wash. Miswaak is the best. (y)

Wassalam.