Monday, October 30, 2006

A Reader on the Fiqh of Hajj

In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful & Compassionate


The following links are sorted under five headings: General Questions, Making Mistakes in Hajj, Financial Issues, Women’s Issues, and Types of Hajj/Performing Hajj on Another’s Behalf. Please pray for the needy compiler of these links.

May all those making Hajj have a blessed journey and may their Hajj be accepted by Allah…ameen. Please remember all those suffering in the Ummah and in the world, and all those Muslims unable to make Hajj this year, in your duas.

Please see the following links, sorted by topic:

General Questions

Various Questions
Hajj Questions
Hajj Question: Toothpaste, Deodorant, Soaps, and Suntan Lotion
Hajj: Books/Resources?
Mobile/Cell Phones during Hajj in Mosques
Using Zamzam for Wudu During Hajj
The Current Spirit of Hajj
The Day of `Arafah: The 9th of Dhu'l Hijjah

Making Mistakes in Hajj

Is it permissible for one to do the pelting of stones, during the hajj, on behalf of one's parents, if one fears that they wont be able to do it themselves [due to the crowd]?
The consequences of leaving tawaf al-ifada Prayer while traveling: (Qasr Salah) and its conditions
Penalties in Hajj
Performed Hajj, Are Make-Ups Excused?

Financial Issues

Performing Hajj with a debt
Hajj questions and unlawful wealth
Does Hajj funded by parents fulfill one's obligation?
Hajj on an interest-bearing loan?
Hajj as a Team Doctor
Hajj On Free Transportation?
Can I pay for my father and mother to go for hajj?
Claiming Hajj Expenses as Educational Expenses
Hajj on parent's money which may involve interest
Hajj questions and unlawful wealth
Debt, brothel, and Hajj

Women’s Issues

Hajj and Menstruation
Would it be permissible to take birth control to stop her menstruation in order to avoid menstruation during Hajj?
Hajj: Can an elderly lady perform Hajj alone?
Hajj without a mahram?
Adopted Girl: Covering
Marriage: The Father-in-Law - Hajj & Hijab
Niqab in Ihram

Types of Hajj/Performing Hajj on Another’s Behalf

Is there any preference between the modes of Hajj, i.e. tammatu and qiran?
One Page Hajj Guide (Tamattu)
Can some one do Hajj for their love ones who died and couldn't perform Hajj?

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Patience in adversity...

So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief.
Verily, with every difficulty there is relief.
(Qur'an 94:5-6)
After a difficulty, Allah will soon grant relief.
(Qur'an 65:7)

Monday, October 23, 2006

Eid Mubarak!

Eid Mubarak!


May Allah accept our fasts, prayers, charity, and all good works done this month, and help us bring those good habits into the rest of the year until we are blessed with another Ramadan. May Allah forgive our many shortcomings and sins. May Allah Most High bless us in abundance, give us long, healthy, happy lives of 'ibaadah and have rahmah on our parents, siblings, spouses, children and loved ones today and always. Ameen Ameen Ameen.

Wassalam,
Salikah

Friday, October 20, 2006

The City of Masjids

For some time now since I've been back I've been wanting to post about Turkey. The truth I've come to realize, is that I fell in love with Turkey and its people, and love that is for the sake of Allah is Infinite. It cannot be expressed in words that are finite.

In Istanbul every block we would walk we would see a beautiful Ottoman masjid. Each one had the same Ottoman architecture, yet each one was unique in some way. One would go inside a small masjid tucked away amidst stores or in a corner off of a street, and find that it had its own keeper(s) -- people tending to the masjid as if it were their home -- ensuring everyone that entered was dressed appropriately for entering a home of Allah Ta'Ala, that there were ample misbahas available, that things were kept neat and tidy, and each worshipper or visitor was greeted with a warm smile. And in each masjid one's heart would long for Allah with such intensity that words are not sufficient to express that longing, to say the least.

Looking out from the hotel each day and night, we would see the breathtakingly magnificent view of the Sultan Ahmet and Aya Sofya on the shore of the Marmara - no photo, no words can capture the site - how strong an Islamic presence the Ottomans made here...ya Rabb...



This evening Salik and I were sitting at Tim Horton's sipping away and I couldn't help, but say to him that I felt as if we must have dropped somehow in Allah's eyes, for He took us from sitting on a rooftop viewing the Sultan Ahmet, Aya Sofya and countless other majestic masjids, sipping on herbal Turkish chai made especially for sick Salikah with nobody around, but a lovely Kurdish waiter who soon became a friend of Salik's and who refused to let us pay for chai that I was drinking to help calm my cough...to a commercialized, capitalistic franchise serving food that was mass produced without any particular customer in mind, which we sipped away sitting in a crowded Tim Horton's on a main street in Toronto. Perhaps it's true, but what's definately true is how superior the former was and how ugly and pale the latter is in comparison. Ya Rabb. Ya Rabb. Ya Rabb.

The courtyard of Sultan Ahmet (the Blue Mosque)....

Inside the Sultan Ahmet ...the main domes...


After Friday Congregational Prayer...

Salik and I would often sit for a long time just trying to take in all the detail...one thing that really struck us was the purpose with which everything was done...we started to notice that calligraphy that was hung up or on painted always had to do with where it was placed...for example at the entrance....

...and above a tap of water on a pillar inside the masjid...


I could go on forever about this masjid alone, but I'll just put up pictures of some other sites. Below are some photos of the Aya Sofya (now a museum) which was really one of the oddest places we visited. Odd in many senses -- the heart feels odd when it's inside it -- no doubt some inward reflection of the external -- all the hallmarks of an Ottoman masjid complete with mihrab, mimbar, and the standard in Turkish masjids: eight huge circles containing the names of Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), Abul Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Hasan, and Hussein (Allah be well please with them all)....but then paintings of Jesus and Virgin Mary peaking out from beneath the paint...


More to come soon...photos of masjids, historical sites, and something about Turkish hospitality...

**NOTE: All images on this blog are copyrighted and cannot be used without the express permission of Salikah Al-Tariq. All rights reserved.**

Bosphorus meets the Black Sea - Istanbul, August 2006

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Muhammadan Art


A good friend of mine sent me a link to a site called
Muhammadan Art. Beautiful work masha'Allah, a very talented sister indeed.Calligraphy is the tongue of the hand, the delight of the conscience, the ambassador of the mind, the inheritor of the thought, the weapon of knowledge, the companion of absent friend, the converser with them over long distances, the depsitory of secrets, and register of events."

- Ibrahim Ibn Muhammad Ash-Shaybani

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Desiderata...beautiful!

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;f
or always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.