Zia Sheikh – Ask The Imam Q&A
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The speakers discuss the importance of fasting during busy holidays and praying in the presence of the Lord. They emphasize the benefits of combining prayer and praying in the presence of others, including profit in retirement and personal reasons. The speakers also address the importance of dressing up during job interviews and avoiding touching one's body during prayer. The conversation emphasizes the need to practice praying in a busy Christmas party and avoid overpaying for home loans and home mortgages. The speakers also address questions about debt and home loans, and provide examples of financing methods used.
AI: Summary ©
The month of Dhul-Qa'da and the month
of Dhul-Hijjah is coming up.
The month of Dhul-Hijjah, as the title
suggests, is the month in which the Hajj
is performed and there are special blessings for
the first ten days of Dhul-Hijjah.
And those blessings have been highlighted in many
hadith.
The Prophet ﷺ used to place special emphasis
on the days of Dhul-Hijjah, increasing the
Takbeer, the Tahlil, the Tasbeeh, Tasbeeh meaning Subhanallah,
Tahlil, La ilaha illa Allah, Takbeer, Allahu Akbar,
Tahmeed, Alhamdulillah, in these specific days of Dhul
-Hijjah.
The Prophet ﷺ, he mentioned about these days,
he said that no deed is better in
these days, no other deed is better than
those deeds which are done in these ten
days of Dhul-Hijjah.
The Sahaba asked them, وَلَا الْجِهَادُ فِي سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ Not even jihad fee sabirillah, not even
striving in the path of Allah ﷻ.
They knew what the virtue of striving in
the path of Allah was and that was
huge.
The virtue of striving in the path of
Allah was huge.
The Prophet ﷺ said, not even jihad fee
sabirillah, except, except if a person goes out
in the path of Allah ﷻ and he
basically loses everything, he spends everything, his life,
his wealth, everything that he ever had, he
spent it and he comes back with nothing,
that person may be, his deeds may be
better, but otherwise, the good deeds which are
done on these ten days of Dhul-Hijjah,
they are the most virtuous of deeds and
they are most rewarding of deeds.
So in these ten days, we should try
to fast during the daytime, it will be
of course nafl fast, and at night we
should try to make qiyam and get up
for tahajjud, and make dua as much as
possible, and especially the people who are going
for hajj, it is obviously a virtue for
them, a special virtue that they are getting,
they are going to be, these ten days,
they are going to be out in a
very special situation, which is performing of an
obligation on one of the five pillars of
Islam, so they need to take that opportunity
to make sure that they don't waste that
opportunity and make sure that they worship Allah
ﷻ as much as possible in those days
too.
Now specifically, on the ninth of Dhul-Hijjah
is the day of Arafah, and the Prophet
ﷺ said about the day of Arafah, that
I hope that the fasting on the day
of Arafah, which is the day before Eid,
I hope that fasting on the day of
Arafah, it will forgive the sins of one
year before, and the sins of one year
afterwards.
So that is such a rewarding thing that
a person can do, is to be fasting
on the day of Arafah, and that is
basically very very simple to do, one day
of fasting, and yet so much reward, so
we should try to make a point of
doing that also.
And during the days of Tashreeq, which are
the days of Eid itself, and three days
after that, we need to increase the Takbeer
as much as possible, Takbeer al-Tashreeq, which
is Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illa
Allah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar wa lillahi alhamd,
after all the salawat, and in general also,
we need to try to do that inshallah.
Looks like the community have many questions, so
let's try and tackle all of them inshallah.
What is the difference of reward for praying
in the proper Musalla, in the proper Musalla
or Masjid?
I'm not sure what the specific motivation is
behind this question, but the reward for praying
in Jama'at, is more than praying by
yourself.
The Prophet ﷺ said that a person who
two people praying, it is better than four
praying individually.
Four people praying, it is better than eight
praying individually.
So the reward of praying in congregation, whether
you are praying in the Masjid, or you
are praying at home, it is more rewarding
than praying alone.
So much so that if a person, for
example, he started his individual prayer, he started
to pray Fard prayer, and then he sees
that a Jama'at is starting, he needs
to break his prayer, and he needs to
join the Jama'at.
When you go to the Masjid itself, then
that reward is multiplied 25 to 27 times
more.
So basically you can see that from two
perspectives, the reward increases.
From the size of the Jama'at itself,
the reward increases, that the bigger the Jama
'at, the more rewarding it is.
So from that perspective the reward increases, and
secondly what happens is, that the reward is
multiplied 25 to 27 times.
So the question is that, how many of
you would, if you were told that you
have to drive 5 minutes more than your
current job, and you will get paid 25
times more than in your current place of
work, would we not drive 5 minutes more,
or 10 minutes more, or 15 minutes more,
or 30 minutes more, just to get that
extra 25 times more earnings?
So the same thing applies to the Jama
'at.
We should never undermine it.
We should never underestimate the reward.
We should try to come and pray in
the Jama'at as much as possible.
And one side benefit of the Jama'at
is something that a lot of people do
not mention, and that is that when a
person prays with the Jama'at, when he
prays with the congregation, his mistakes that he
may make individually, they are covered up with
the Barak of the Jama'at.
So if he misses something in Salat, he
is not aware that he is making a
mistake in Salat.
But because he is praying in the congregation,
because of the Barak of that congregation, his
reward of the Salat will be complete because
the mistakes are basically covered up because of
him praying behind an Imam whose Salat would
be basically complete, hopefully, inshallah, and his mistakes
are basically brushed aside because of the fact
that he is praying in Jama'at.
So that is something also to keep in
mind.
Okay, what options do Muslims have for a
401K?
Is getting IRA like Iman Fund for purpose
of 401K benefits recommended?
Some scholars, it is allowed to invest in
companies that have less than 3 or 5
% interest income if it is a halal
business.
Basically, what you should try to do, as
far as I know about 401Ks, when you
are given the option of a 401K, what
happens is that they will give you certain
categories that you can invest in.
You can, for example, invest in health shares,
you can invest in technology shares, and so
on.
So basically, you should try to pick those
batches of shares which are Islamically permissible and
obviously don't go for the banking sector, don't
go for financials, don't go for entertainment industry.
In fact, there are even Christian organizations that
have mutual funds that are ethically and morally
acceptable religious-wise and they only invest in
them.
I am not sure what the names of
those funds are, but they are available if
you look for them.
And Iman Funds, for example, if you go
with them, usually they vet out all the
companies and make sure that the companies that
are invested in are halal.
When away on travel, I am clear on
combining Salat.
The question is after coming back.
Say while on travel, Dhuhr and Asr time
passes.
When arriving home, can you combine Dhuhr and
Asr?
Yes, you can, because at the time of
the Dhuhr coming in, you were traveling.
Basically, there is a difference of opinion about
actually combining prayer or not in the first
place.
But in this day and age, I don't
think that, and specifically because of the difficulties
that Muslims have while traveling, it would be
permissible for a person to combine the prayer.
And in this case, when coming back, you
are actually a Musafir all the way until
you actually enter into the boundary of your
hometown.
So even if you are outside your hometown
and you wanted to pray in Qasr, you
are allowed to do that.
But as soon as you enter the boundary
of your hometown, then you would basically pray
the full prayer of the time of the
Salat.
Say for example, it's still Asr time when
you get back into your hometown.
So you would have to pray your Asr
time, Asr full.
And Dhuhr, you can actually shorten it because
while you were traveling, that Dhuhr was obligatory
upon you.
While you were traveling, it was obligatory upon
you then, so you can shorten it.
That is the way that you would pray
that.
Do you have any tips in terms of
establishing Khushu in Salat?
Obviously, this is something that we all should
try to strive for as much as possible.
Khushu means concentration, devotion, and the best way
really is to go through the whole procedure
of Salat.
Salat is not just that you come and
stand and pray.
There is actually a procedure for it, and
that is take time out for Salat, make
Wudhu, and while making Wudhu, think about the
Hadith which mentions that the sins of a
person when he's making Wudhu, they're being extinguished,
and then come and pray, come and sit
in the Masjid, pray the two Raka'ah
if it's not Makruh time, sit and concentrate
on Zikr, reciting Quran, and focusing on what
you're about to do.
Just think about and compare yourself to what
you are doing if you have a job
interview.
You have a job interview, and you're sitting
in the waiting room of that job interview.
This job interview is a make-or-break
interview.
If you get this job, then basically you're
set for life.
If you don't get this job, then basically
you're going to be stuck in a rut
for the rest of your life in the
same job that you don't like doing.
So when you are sitting in that waiting
room, how's your mindset?
You're going through all of the questions that
that person could be asking you, all of
the qualifications that you've done, all of the
things that could come up in the interview.
You're basically going through them.
So when you are sitting for Salat, you
are going to be presenting yourself in front
of Allah subhana wa ta'ala.
Think of, you know, maybe the sins that
I've been committing all day, and the disobedience
of Allah subhana wa ta'ala that I've
been doing, and how I should present myself
to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, how humble
I should be in front of Allah subhana
wa ta'ala that I'm about to stand
in front of.
And finally, one of the best ways of
thinking about the khushu in Salat is to
actually think that this could be my last
Salat ever.
If a person thinks that this is going
to be my last Salat, and after this
the angel of death is going to take
my ruh away, then obviously he's going to
have so much focus, so much concentration and
devotion that he basically is, you know, this
is his last opportunity to please Allah subhana
wa ta'ala.
So he's going to have that concentration.
So these things, we should try to keep
them in mind while praying the Salat.
Praying Salat at a Musalla versus in a
Masjid, what is the difference in reward?
Somebody asked me the same question.
Two people asked the same question, but it's
two different people.
So the congregational Masjid is more rewarding than
a Musalla, okay?
But like I said, any place in which
a congregational prayer takes place, it is more
rewarding than praying at home.
And if the Musalla is closer to you
and it's more convenient to you and you're
more likely to get to it, then go
to the Musalla.
But if the Masjid is closer to you,
then obviously that is more rewarding and you
should try to pray there inshallah.
Sometimes our neighbors invite us for Christmas parties,
dinners.
Is there any reason why we should accept
or reject the invitation?
What is your advice?
The issue is that Christmas is, you know,
it is a purely religious celebration.
And keeping that point in mind, we should
not be celebrating it and nor should we
be participating in the celebration of Christmas per
se.
And if you really think about it, from
a Christian perspective, how many people actually think
about Christmas as a religious celebration anyway?
Rather, people take it as an opportunity to
have parties, to engage in illicit relationships, to
get drunk, to basically do all kinds of
unreligious things which are not connected with any
type of religion whatsoever.
And of course, the whole issue of materialism.
Christmas is all about materialism.
Buying presents for each other, making sure that
you have gifts for everybody.
You know, why is Black Friday called Black
Friday?
Does anybody know?
Why is Black Friday called Black Friday?
Does anybody know?
Huh?
Huh?
Yes.
Because traditionally, all through the year what happens
is that all the companies, the Walmarts, the
Best Buys, whatever company you can take, they
are all operating at deficits.
They are not really making a profit.
They are all operating in the red.
On Black Friday, that is such a crazy
shopping day that everybody is trying to shop
for Christmas that that is when basically the
balance shifts from red to black and that's
when they start making the profit.
So Christmas time, starting from after Thanksgiving up
to Christmas time is when the retailers make
the profit.
So it's more materialism than anything else.
And then all the symbols related to Christmas,
they are all pagan symbols.
The Christmas tree, Father Christmas, the Yuletide log.
I mean, I don't think you have the
Yuletide.
It's more famous in Europe, the Yuletide and
things of that nature.
The holly, the holly and the ivy, the
mistletoe.
All these things, you look them up online,
you will find that they have pagan roots.
And on top of that, to add insult
to injury, Jesus was probably not even born
on December 25th.
December 25th was a celebration that the ancient
Romans used to have which celebrated the winter
solstice, which is related to the birth of
the sun god or something of that nature.
It's again a pagan festival which was December
25th.
Jesus was probably born around April, according to
all historians.
So it has no religious significance according to
them.
And we as Muslims should not be participating
in something that even hints at religious symbolism
and because of all the pagan things associated
with it, we should not.
In fact, it's very easy to tell the
people very respectfully that we don't celebrate Christmas
because we are not Christians but we would
love to come at any other time of
the year.
If you invite us, we would love to
come.
So that's the way to get out of
it, inshallah.
From the Islamic point of view, is it
prohibited to donate to poor non-Muslims?
Actually, there are eight categories of zakat.
And one of those categories is called Muallafatul
Quloob.
Muallafatul Quloob means that those people that if
you were to donate to them, then they
would find an interest in Islam.
They would become attracted to Islam.
Now, whether that category is still applicable in
today's world or not, that is open to
question.
There is a difference of opinion.
Because in the time of Umar, they decided
that Muallafatul Quloob was no longer a category
that should be entertained because Islam was at
a peak at that time and Islam was
victorious.
That's why that became cancelled out.
My personal opinion is in this day and
age, when Islam is being maligned on so
many different fronts and Islam is being blamed
on so many fronts, we should take every
opportunity to try to attract people to Islam
and tell them and teach them that this
is what Islam teaches.
To help the poor, to help the needy.
And in doing so, to give to the
non-Muslims, I think it would be perfectly
permissible.
Can we donate to a scholarship fund established
in the name of a non-Muslim person?
The scholarship benefits to all regardless of race
or religion.
It depends really on who that person was.
Generally speaking, what happens is whenever somebody starts
a scholarship fund, it is to elevate that
person's name and keep that person's name in
respect of what he did.
For example, there are even families who just
because they were rich, they made all of
these funds and they may not necessarily have
been the most ethical of people.
I don't want to name any names because
it wouldn't be appropriate.
So my suggestion would be for Muslims to
start their own scholarship funds using the names
of Sahaba for example.
Omar Ibn Khattab fund, Abu Bakr Siddiq fund,
Ali Ibn Abi Talib fund.
Some people have already actually started that.
So we should try something like that.
Whether it's permissible to do that or not,
it's really again dependent upon who the scholarship's
name was under.
The fund's name was under.
During sujood, I want to collapse my elbows
towards myself during prayer and jamaat.
However, I want to know if my prayer
will be still valid.
This is because there is less room for
me to extend my wings in the jamaat.
The wings.
Actually, if you're alone during sajda, if you're
not in congregation, then the proper procedure would
be to have your elbows up and off
the floor and away from your body.
That's the proper procedure.
Your elbows should not be close to you
when you're alone.
However, in jamaat, what happens is because you're
squashed up and sometimes you're in a tight
position, so if because of that tightness, your
elbows are touching your body, that's perfectly okay.
But if you're alone, then the elbows should
be up off the floor and away from
your body.
If my cell phone rings during the prayer,
am I allowed to turn off the phone?
My prayer will be still valid?
Yes, absolutely you're allowed to turn off the
phone if your salat if it goes off
in the salat, you should actually turn it
off in the first place.
The ruling behind this is something which is
known as amal kathir in salat.
What is amal kathir?
Amal kathir, there are two opinions as to
what amal kathir is.
One opinion is that if you do something
which is not part of the salat, more
than three times in the salat, then your
salat is invalid.
Okay, so that is something that we need
to pay attention to.
Many times we're scratching ourselves, playing with our
clothes.
If you do that more than three times
according to some scholars, your salat is invalid.
So really you should be completely perfectly still
and focusing only and only on the salat.
Now your cell phone rings, basically you put
your hand in your pocket, turn it off.
That is just one action that you did
and it's finished.
So your salat will still be valid.
But if it was one of a number
of actions that you've been doing all through
the salat, then obviously your salat will be
under question.
The second opinion about amal kathir is that
if somebody was to look at you and
think by your actions that you're, the actions
that you're doing, that you're not praying salat,
your salat would be invalid.
And sometimes you do that.
You sometimes see somebody and, you know, messing
around with their clothes so much and looking
everywhere, you cannot really think that that person
is in salat.
And if that's the case, then the salat
would be certainly at least questionable.
Can Muslims eat in idol worshippers' house or
restaurant where they have their idols displayed?
As long as the food has not been
blessed on the idols, it would be okay.
It would be permissible to do that.
Okay, there are a few text messages I
got.
Okay, if someone is not married, is he
going to have a wife in jannah?
Inshallah, he should have a wife in jannah
unless he doesn't want it.
Unless he doesn't want a wife in jannah.
Why would he not be married in this
world anyway?
That's the question.
Another comment rather than a question.
Could you please kindly remind our brothers to
wash I think it says smile nice, but
I think it's smell nice before they come
to the masjid.
Some brothers smell awful.
It says smile awful, but I think it's
smell awful.
So again, if you come to the masjid,
I've mentioned that many times before, part of
our hygiene is to make sure that we
are not harming anybody.
That's why the Prophet, he used to tell
people not to eat onion, garlic, and leek
before coming to the masjid.
Okay, all of these foods are strong smelling
foods, and in our desi culture, Indian, Bangladeshi,
Pakistani, all that spicy food, it really, if
you do not brush your teeth, is going
to make your breath smell.
So please, after eating that, go to the
washroom, use some mouth wash, brush your teeth,
you know, do some flossing before coming to
the masjid, so that you're not harming anybody
by coming to the masjid in that situation.
Yes, same thing for cigarette smokers.
Okay, one question here is if you have
a home loan, okay, if you have a
home mortgage loan, how do you consider the
debt for calculation of zakat?
It's a good question and a very relevant
question, which comes up from time to time,
and this is also related to the issue
of hajj.
Okay, probably most of us, we all have
loans, whether through Islamic financing or conventional financing
that we use to purchase homes with.
Okay, now, in a traditional sense, if a
person is in debt, and that debt is
more than the money that he has, then
he would not have to pay zakat on
that.
Or, and also, he would not have to
go for hajj if his savings are less
than the debt that he owes.
But the problem is that in this country,
most of us, like I said, we are
in that debt.
So, because of that particular situation, if we
were to use that traditional equation, then nobody
would pay zakat, and nobody would go for
hajj.
And that's pretty, you know, straightforward.
Nobody would pay zakat, nobody would go for
hajj.
So, in the case of these home mortgages,
we have to basically sideline them, not regard
them as debt, and the savings, we pay
zakat on them, and we perform hajj with
those savings if they accumulate to a degree
that hajj would be obligatory, which would be,
if you have enough money to go there
and come back and leave enough money for
your family, then that hajj is obligatory upon
you.
So, for both hajj and zakat, mortgage loans
should be put to the side.
And of course, if a person, he's got
this debt, and every paycheck, he's living paycheck
to paycheck, he basically takes all that money
and pays off the debt.
And by the end of the month, he
has nothing left.
So, obviously, he's not going to have to
pay zakat, because he doesn't have any money
left, and also, he's not going to have
to perform hajj, because he doesn't have enough
savings to take him for hajj.
So, that would be the situation.
What advice can you give if I am
going to buy a house?
Basically, how can I finance a house, Islamically,
in America?
These Islamic financing companies, they are the way
to go.
That's one way to do it.
Or, you do what's called owner financing.
Sometimes what happens, an owner who's paid off
his house, he can give you, for example,
if he is selling his house for $100
,000, you can tell him, look, I'll pay
you over 15 years, and I'll give you
$120,000 over these 15 years.
So, if he agrees to that, then that's
perfectly permissible for you to do.
That's owner financing.
Or, like I said, go through these Islamic
companies.
Many people have this question, well, ultimately, it
boils down to the same thing.
It boils down to the same thing.
What Lariva does, or what Guidance does, is
exactly what the conventional banks do.
That's not actually accurate.
They do, Lariva and Guidance, they do use
the bank rates as a benchmark to make
their calculations.
That's correct.
But, the transaction is different.
And now, let me give you another example
to make you understand that.
That if, for example, you earn $100 by
selling something haram, you've got $100 in your
hand.
And you sell something else, which is halal,
and you have $100 in your hand.
At the end of the day, you have
$100 here, $100 here, and you think, well,
it's the same thing.
I've got $100.
Okay?
That's the calculation that some people have.
They say, well, ultimately, you're paying the same
amount of money to Lariva or Guidance that
you would in a conventional mortgage.
Okay?
So, that doesn't make it haram.
It's the transaction, the contract that you have
with the company, that makes something halal or
haram.
Okay?
So, what happens in these cases of Lariva
and Guidance, you have a shared ownership program,
where both of you become owners of the
property, and then you buy out your share
of the ownership by paying partly rent, and
it becomes
impermissible for you, and it works out the
same.
Another question that people have, well, they use
the same forms.
Legally, they are obligated to do that.
There is no choice for them.
There are federal rules and guidelines that they
have to use specific forms, they have to
use specific terminology, they have to use specific
wording when you are filling out the form
to apply for the loan, and that's why
you have to use the same forms, and
they use the same terminology.
Okay?
That's because they are federally mandated to do
so, and they have no other choice to
do that.
Okay?
So, if you go with them, that is
permissible.
There's another...
That's a good question.
The question is, if you didn't hear him,
is that they get their money from Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, and then they basically
turn around and give you a loan.
That's not exactly how it works.
And I clarified this with these brothers, this
rumor, if you like, or this understanding that
people have, that they get money from Fannie
Mae, Freddie Mac, and then they turn around
and loan it at a higher quote-unquote
interest rate.
That's not exactly how it works.
This is how they do it.
Let's step aside from banks for a minute,
and think about say, for example, there are
two or three brothers, they want to invest
in a business.
Okay?
And they don't have the capital to invest
in the business, but they say they talk
to what's called venture capitalists, who can provide
the capital for that money.
And that person looks at the business model,
and he says, okay, I can see that
you are going to make 5% profit
every month from my investment, so I'm going
to invest in this business model of yours.
That is perfectly permissible, that a venture capitalist
takes the money and puts it into this
business of yours.
Okay?
So, what Lariba does, and specifically I asked
Lariba about this, Lariba does, what they say
is that okay, this is a transaction that
we're going to have with such and such
a person, and with the money that we
see that we're going to make, we're going
to make approximately a 5% profit over
the 15 years that we are doing this
transaction.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, would you like to
invest in this as an investor?
So, as investors, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
they come in, just like any other individual
could come in and invest in that transaction,
and make an estimated 5% profit according
to their claims.
Okay?
So it's not that they are getting the
money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and
then lending the money out that way.
It is basically, they are presenting a scenario
where this situation of Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac is going to net you approximately 5
% profit.
Would you like to invest in it?
And they invest in it, and they are
basically investors in that transaction.
Not people that are just giving money, and
that money is then loaned out to other
people.
Is that clear?
Okay.
I think I've got some more questions.
Okay.
We have a few questions which are a
little bit more deep.
And ironically, they're from converts to Islam.
I'm not going to discuss them.