Question:

As salamu ‘alaykum, I was in the masjid the other night and a brother and I was discussing whether or not it was permissible to make extra dua (in one’s own words) while in sujood. He is from the hanafi school and he said that it was not good to do that and this is what his Imam told him. I know somewhere in Umdatul Salik (Reliance of the Traveller) there is a section where Ibn Hajar al Asqalani (raheemahullah) mentions that the Muslim can make his/her own ijtihad when it comes to dua to Allah. Please direct me to the Shafi’i position and its evidences and also share with us any difference of opinion in order for us to be lenient in areas where leniency is needed and for us to have respect for the ‘Ulema who differ with us. Jazak’Allaahu Khairan.

Country: United States

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

In Sahih Muslim, there is a hadith related with the wording,

أقرب ما يكون العبد من ربه إذا كان ساجدا فاجتهدوا في الدعاء

“The nearest that a slave is to his Lord is when he is prostrating, so exert yourselves in supplication.” (The wording is fa akthiru also comes in Sahih Muslim v. 4, p. 735)

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami in Tuhfah v. 2, p. 111 and Khatib in Mughni v. 1, p. 391 based the ruling on supplicating in prostration on this hadith.

What is ma’thur – related from the Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) – is best. On the nature of what one may supplicate for in his prayers, Imam Nawawi discussed some details in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab v. 3, p. 469 where he discussed the dua after tashahhud. In the Madhhab, Abu Muhammad al-Juwayni questioned supplications like for example, “O Allah! Provide me with a slave-girl, her features such-and-such…,” while the majority of the As-hab al-Wujuh allowed for this; maintaining that one may pray to Allah for both the worldly and next-worldly.

The hadith evidence only mentions “dua,” without a restriction on it. If this be restricted, it would require evidence. The command akthiru is an incitement to ask one’s Lord for every need one may have, turning to Him Alone. In fact, Ibn Hibban related in his Sahih v. 3, p. 177 on the authority of Anas that the Prophet Muhammad (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) said, “Let one of you ask his Lord for all his needs, until the strap on his sandals.”

In ‘Umdat al-Qari v. 6, p. 119, Badr al-Din al-‘Ayni related a differing opinion. And this opinion is taken by the Hanafis. They based their ruling on a hadith related by Imam Muslim, “Verily, this prayer of ours, nothing from human speech is suitable for it.”

The Shafi’is respond to this that the aforementioned hadiths, like akthiru fi al-dua’, are unrestricted, thus any dua may be made. Everything which is considered as “dua,” is included in the hadith; and evidence is required to restrict it. The Shafi’s answer to the hadith brought by the Hanafis is that there is a clear difference between “dua” and “kalam al-nas.”

Noteworthy, the situation of supplicating in sujud at length is not an absolute ruling. Rather it is situational, and considers for example that one does so when he is not leading others in prayer or a following another in prayer. One leading others in prayer is generally supposed to make the prayer brief to not cause inconvenience to others, unless he knows those behind him like to have a lengthened prayer. This is related by Imam Nawawi in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab v. 3, p. 357 from Imam Shafi’s Kitab al-Umm,

قال الشافعي في الأم ويجتهد في الدعاء ما لم يكن إماما فيثقل على من خلفه أو مأموما فيخالف إمامه

“Imam Shafi’i said in al-Umm, ‘And one should exert himself in supplication when he is not leading the prayer and that would be a burden on who is behind him, or a follower and that would make him contradict who he is following in the prayer.’”

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

Asslamu ‘Alaikum, There has been a claim made that an ‘alim in 2011 said that a man may have intercourse with the body of his dead wife. “Since a good Muslim couple will meet again in Heaven, and since death does not alter the marital contract it is not a hindrance to the husband’s desire to have sexual intercourse with the corpse of his (freshly) deceased wife”.

What does our madhab say about such a view?

Wassalam

Country: United States

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami counted this from amongst the major sins [kaba’ir]. (al-Zawajir v. 2, p. 152) The act is unlawful and despicable.

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

selamun aleykum, is the punishment in the grave  a reality according the shafii school?

Country: Germany

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

In the beliefs of a Muslim, punishment in the grave is a reality. This is established in many different texts.

For example, in Sahih al-Bukhari v. 1, p. 66 #216, the Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) passed by the graves of two men who were being punished in their graves. The Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) mentioned that they were not being punished for major offenses. One did not protect himself from urine and the other was involved in tale-bearing. The Prophet called for a palm leaf which he broke into two and placed on the graves, informing the companions that it would lighten the punishment so long as it had not dried.

Also, again in Sahih al-Bukhari v. 1, p. 211 #832, it is reported that the Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) would supplicate and ask protection from the punishment in the grave.

Ibn Hajar al-Haytami was asked, in his Fatawa v. 2, p. 9, on if the punishment in the grave is on one’s body and soul or just one of them. To this, he replied that the punishment in the grave is on both the body and soul. This he mentions as the relied-upon opinion. In his commentary on Tirmidhi, Muhammad Anwar Shah al-Kashmiri mentioned that Ahl al-Sunnah has two views on if the body and soul are body punished, or just the soul. The relied-upon view he stated to be the first, like Ibn Hajar.

Also, he stated that the hadiths on the topic are mutawatir, as did Shawkani in Nayl al-Awtar.

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:
Asalamo Aleikom wa Rahmatollahi wa Barakatoh, i am Hanafi, but my question is this: I heard in mosque once that: in Shafi’i Madhab it is not allowed to do Caesarean section on a dead woman who has a living child in her stomach. Is this true :) JazakAllaho Khayran Katheera :)

Country: Norway

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

Abu al-‘Abbas Ibn Surayj maintained that the child should be removed from its deceased mother as the sanctity of the living is more than that of the deceased. The detail is also mentioned by the Shafiyyah that in the instance when the fetus would be able to live outside the womb, then such an operation should be performed.  (al-Hawi al-Kabir v. 3, p. 62) The reason for performing such an operation is to save a life. If the baby’s life can be saved, it is obligatory to do so. (Tuhfat al-Muhtaj v. 3, p. 225)

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

Asalamu alikum waramathuallah inshallah at the end of this month I am getting married is there any dua or namaz (prayer) before first night (I mean meeting her)?

Country: India

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

When one encounters his new wife on the wedding night, it is recommended that he say “BismiLlah,” taking the front part of her head in his hand he says,

“Allah bless each one of us in his partner. O Allah! Verily I ask you of her good and the good which you created her with. And I seek refuge with You from her evil and the evil which you created her with.”

The first part “Allah bless each one of us in his partner,” is mentioned by Imam Nawawi in Kitab al-Adhkar. Perhaps an asl for it could be found in a hadith related by Imam Bukhari, بارك الله لك وأولم ولو بشاة. And Allah knows best. The rest is related through a sahih isnad by Imams Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah.

(See: Kitab al-Adhkar p. 409-10)

For the Arabic see: الدعاء إذا دخلت عليه امرأته ليلة الزفاف

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

As salaamu alaikum! Some one told from Malaysia that it is necessary to wash the egg before breaking it. And is the fatwa of their Ulama. Is it true?

Country: South Africa

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

In Sharh al-Muhadhdhab v. 2, p. 556, Imam Nawawi related that Baghawi, ‘Imrani, and others transmit the matter of if it is necessary to wash an egg which falls out onto a pure place to be one of wajhayn. Furthermore, Ibn al-Sabbagh related in his Fatawa that it is not obligatory to wash it as it is not obligatory to wash a child who exits pure as per ijma’.

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

If the husband gives talaq in the state of alcohol addiction is that talaq valid?

Country: India

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

We understand that what is intended in the question to be that a husband issues a talaq while he is intoxicated from drinking alcohol. If he issues a talaq in this state, the talaq has happened. (Nihayat al-Muhtaj v. 6, p. 424)

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

as-salamu alaykum, is it ok to pray behind an imam who wipes over thin socks? JazakAllahu khairan.

Country: Canada

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

In the instance that an imam would wipe on footgear which does not fulfill the requisite conditions in the Shafi’i Madhhab, it is possible that the imam follows another Madhhab which maintains such a view.

Some differ on the conditions permitting wiping on the jawrab. Imam Ahmad, Qadi Abu Yusuf, and Muhammad b. Hasan al-Shaybani’s, for example, conditions allow for wiping on the jawrab which maintain that it must be thick enough that one’s foot cannot be seen and one must be able to walk around in them without them falling off. (al-Mawsu’at al-Fiqhiyyah v. 37, p. 271)

On the topic of following an imam if one considers his prayer invalid, in Sharh al-Muhadhdhab v. 4, p. 288, Imam Nawawi related a difference of opinion on this matter from the Shafiyyah. He related the relied-upon as stated by Abu Ishaq al-Marwazi, Abu Ishaq al-Isfarayini, Bandiniji, Qadi Abu al-Tayyib, and the majority, to be that if one verified that the imam has omitted something that the Madhhab considers, then following him is not sound. While if one verified that he has performed all of it, or doubts, then it is valid.

Additionally, there is another view in the Madhhab, related from Qaffal, that the ma’mum’s following such an imam is valid. This view is stated to be the preferred view by Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini. (Hawashy al-Rawdah v. 1, p. 344; Tahrir al-Fatawi v. 1, p. 335)

This difference manifests from another angle too. In the instance that one of another Madhhab prays in a way invalid according to his Madhhab, then according to Qaffal, a Shafi’s following him is not sound. According to the first view, it be sound if according to the ma’mum’s validity is achieved. The first view takes into consideration what the ma’mum considers and Qaffal’s view what the imam considers. (Rawdat al-Talibin v. 1, p. 347)

The relied-upon opinion takes into consideration the i’tiqad of the ma’mum.

Purity is a condition of the prayer, if one knows that the imam has wiped on socks which do not fulfill the necessary conditions for wiping [mash] in the Shafi’i Madhhab but do in another Madhhab, it is not valid to follow that imam in prayer in accordance to the relied-upon opinion. The Madhhab does transmit the aforementioned view of Qaffal and Bulqini as well.

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

Salam. My question is, is it the duty and responsibility of the wife to do the household work? What does Islam says about that? Thanks.

Country: United Arab Emirates

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

The Madhhab’s opinion is that a woman is not obligated to serve her husband by doing chores and housework. This view would consider that which women customarily do as a good and virtuous supererogatory act for their husbands and their homes for which they are rewarded by their Lord – glorified and exalted be He – for. Shaykh Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi related this view in his Muhadhdhab v. 4, p. 236.

The view is also in ‘Umdat al-Mufti wa al-Mustafti v. 2, p. 129. While Shaykh Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Ahdal mentioned that Fatimah the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) would serve her husband, she even raised this issue to the Prophet himself as is known. Along these lines, other ladies from this era are also reported to have served their husbands. This took place with the Prophet (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam) being aware of it.

Allah says in his Book وعاشروهن بالمعروف, “and live with them [i.e. women] honorably.” (4:19) What an excellent means for explaining and exemplifying this verse is how it was during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (sallaAllahu alayhie wa sallam).

Shaykh Ahdal mentions that this is sufficient as a proof to make the ruling one of obligation. This is related as Imam Malik’s view and also from some of the As-hab al-Wujuh as Ibn Ruslan related in his commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud.

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.

Question:

As-salamu alaykum wa-rahmatullahi wa-barakatuh, Are the Kafirun (Non-Muslims) Allowed to go to Masjid? JazakAllahKhayran

Country: France

Answer:

Wa alaykum salam wa rahmatuLlahi wa barakatuHu,

Even in the instance that a non-Muslim is in a state of major ritual impurity, it is permissible that he enter into a mosque when a Muslim has given him permission to do so. Without the permission of a Muslim, then a non-Muslim should not enter into a mosque, it is unlawful. In the instance that the purpose of inviting a non-Muslim to a mosque (not including the Holy Mosque in Makkah) is that he hear the Qur’an and be taught about Islam, hoping that will inspire him to embrace Islam, it is recommended. (Sharwani on Tuhfat al-Muhtaj v. 2, p. 168)

And Allah knows best.

Shafiifiqh.com Fatwa Dept.