Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Burhan,

As Salaam u Alikum. For a long timw now, i hav ebeen getting emails i.e. ur answers to many people`s questions. Today i want to ask some of my questions and i hope u can help me.

A few months ago i attended a wedding and my friends and i were discussing the cermony called Walima. She said that the Walima isn`t "Halaal" until the couple have consummated their marriage. As soon as i heard this, i replied that this cannot be true as it is the couples wishes and personal matters whether they consummate their marriage on their wedding night or a month or a year later. This is not anyone else`s business. I was right, right?

I am also in love with this man who also happens to love me and we intend to get married. We want our parents blessings but the first visit from his family was, let`s say, not perfect. But his mother and sister had come to my house before this and met with my mother and family and everything was fine to such an extent that his mother liked me and had no problem at all.

This occasion was without our fathers` presence. The first occasion was without our father`s presence. (And they still don`t know of this.) Anyway,since that day we have both tried to in some way get ourselves engaged or something but there is no result as of yet. Nothing concrete. I swore to Allah that i would pray the Namaaz-e-Haajaat (in order to gain Allah`s further Blessings) everyday till i got engaged to him. I pray, Alhmadulillah, 5 times day and always pray for my future with him and the health and well ebing of both our families. But I`m getting worried day by day due to my mother and father`s wishes to get married ASAP. I need help. I have also decided to read "La Ilaaha Illa Anta Subhaanaka Inni Kuntum inazzaalimeen". I hope this works. Could u pls help me how and what to do to gain Allah`s Pleasure and Blessings in which i can hopefully get married to this man i like.

Could u also tell me how to pray the Namaaz-e- Haajaat because i read somewhere that u have to read Ayat Al Kursi 3 times in the first rakah and the Surah Ikhlaas in the second rakah, Surah Falaq in the third and Surah Al Naas in the fourth Rakah (all after Surah Fatiha). This is correct..isn`t it?

I Hope u can help me in my dilemma.

Thank You.

PS> I do have hope and trust that Allah will give me what i want but is there something else that i can do in order to gain his Favour.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Walima consummate marriage

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: She said that the Walima isn`t "Halaal" until the couple have consummated their marriage. As soon as i heard this, i replied that this cannot be true as it is the couples wishes and personal matters whether they consummate their marriage on their wedding night or a month or a year later. This is not anyone else`s business. I was right, right?

You are absolutely right! The wedding feast or ‘walima’ is a preferred Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and must be offered soon after one’s Nikaah marriage. The main purpose of this feast is to announce the joyous occasion to the society one lives in.

Your Question: Could u pls help me how and what to do to gain Allah`s Pleasure and Blessings in which i can hopefully get married to this man i like.

Dear and Beloved Sister in Islam, our Lord is the Most Merciful and the Most Bounteous, and He is ever ready to accept any supplication which His believing slaves make unto Him in humility and in hope. His Mercy and Bounty is indeed limitless, and there is absolutely nothing in the Universe that is beyond His Power and Grasp. Thus one may, and should only supplicate the Bounteous Lord for whatever of the good one wishes to receive. Every supplication which begets good that a believer makes to his Lord, is heard and answered by the Lord; for He Alone is indeed The All Hearing, The All Knowing.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 186: And if My servants ask you, O Prophet, concerning Me, tell them that I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the suppliant, when he calls on Me. So let them respond to My call and believe in Me. (Convey this to them), perhaps they may be guided aright!

The All Knowing, All Wise Allah knows what is good and what is bad for us; therefore, if one asks for something good, Allah will give him/her one of three things:

Allah will give the believer what he/she has supplicated for.

If what the believer is asking is not good or harmful for the believer in this world, Allah will store it for him for the world of the Hereafter.

If what the believer is asking is not good or harmful for the believer in this world, Allah will turn away from the believer an equivalent amount of evil.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2257 Narrated by Abu Sa'id al-Khudri

The Prophet (saws) said, "Any Muslim who makes a supplication containing nothing which is sinful, or which involves breaking ties of relationship, will be given for it by Allah one of three things: He will give him swift answer, or store it up for him in the next world, or turn away from him an equivalent amount of evil." Those who heard it said they would then make many supplications and he replied that Allah was more ready to answer than they were to ask.

Nu'man b. Bashir reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Verily supplication is worship."

Narrated by Ahmad and Sunan.

Abu Hurairah reported, "The Prophet (saws) said, "Nothing is more dear to Allah than one's supplication to Him.''

Narrated by Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah.

Salman reported that the Prophet (saws), said, "Your Lord, the Blessed and the Exalted One, is Modest and Generous, and He loathes to turn away His servant empty-handed when he raises his hands to Him in supplication."

Narrated by Ahmad and Ibn Hibban.

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet (saws) said, "Your supplication will be answered if you are not impatient, and if you do not say, 'I supplicated but my supplication was not heard'."

Narrated by Malik.

In light of the above aayah and the various narrations from the Messenger of Allah (saws), it is evident that no supplication to Allah of a believer, is ever left unanswered.

But my Dear and Beloved Sister, one must believe with absolute conviction that our Lord not only hears and answers all our supplications, but He is Also the All-Knowing and The All-Wise; and He knows best what is good for us and what is harmful for us. It may be that we may think something is good for us, but that very thing when given might be harmful for our lives in this world and the Hereafter; for Allah Alone has the complete and perfect knowledge of the past, present, and future.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 216 (part): ….But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth and ye know not.

Thus, in keeping with the Islamic principles and in accordance with the guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws), the best principle of asking or imploring the Lord Most Merciful for something is laid out in the supplication the Messenger of Allah (saws) would make during his ‘istakhara’ prayers:

Allahomma Inni Astakheeroka Bi'ilmik. Wa'astaqdiroka Biqodratik. Wa'as'aloka

min Fadlikal-azeem. Fa'innaka Taqdiru Wala Aqdir. Wata'lamo Wala-a'lam.

Wa'anta-'allamul ghuyoob.

Allahomma In Kunta Ta'lamu Anna (Hathal-Amra) Khayul-lee Fi Deenee Wama'ashi

Wa'ajila Amri Wa'ajilah, Faqdorho lee, Wayassirho lee, Thomma-barik lee fih.

Wa'in Konta Ta'lamo Anna (Hathal-Amra) sharrul-lee Fi Deenee. Wama'ashi.

Wa'ajila Amri. Wa'ajilaho. Fasrifho 'annee. Wasrifnee 'anh. Waqdur

leyal-khayr Haytho kan. Thomma ardini Bih.

Translation of du'a:

(O Allah! I seek Your guidance (in making a choice) by virtue of Your

knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your

great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are

the Knower of hidden things.

O Allah! If in Your knowledge, (this matter) is good for my religion, my

livelihood and my affairs; immediate and in the distant, then ordain for me,

make it easy for me and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge, (this

matter) is bad for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs; immediate and

in the distant, then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it. And

ordain for me the good wherever it be, and make me pleased with it.)

It is considered an act of worship in Islam to implore and beseech Allah Subhanah for whatever good one’s heart desires; but one should Trust Allah Subhanah when the thing one asks for is not given and sincerely accept and submit to His Divine Decision with the conviction that if that thing was good for the person, Allah would surely have given it to him in this world. He Knows what is best for us and we know not.

Your Question: Could u also tell me how to pray the Namaaz-e- Haajaat because i read somewhere that u have to read Ayat Al Kursi 3 times in the first rakah and the Surah Ikhlaas in the second rakah, Surah Falaq in the third and Surah Al Naas in the fourth Rakah (all after Surah Fatiha). This is correct..isn`t it?

The Criterion for declaring an act a Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) or a ‘bidah’ (innovation in the deen), is to determine whether:

the act was done by the Messenger of Allah (saws),

or was it recommended by the Messenger of Allah (saws),

or was it practiced by the noble companions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) in front of him, and he (saws) did not object to it.

If the act conforms to even one of the above three criterias, then it will be considered a Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws); and if the act does not conform to any of the above three criterias, then it will be deemed a ‘bida’ or an innovation in the deen.

If one studies the authentic traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) there is absolutely no mention of the Salaat-e-Haajat! Thus it does not behove the believers to give names to a particular prayer, or perform the prayer at a particular time and invent or innovate their own names for these prayers! No one who ever walked on this planet earth worshipped Allah Subhanah in a better or more perfect manner than the noble self of the Last Messenger of Allah, Mohamed ar-Rasool Allah (saws). If the Messenger of Allah (saws) performed or recommended any act of worship, the believers should do it without hesitation; and if the Messenger of Allah (saws) neither did, nor recommended the specific act of worship, it does not behove the believers who sincerely believe in Allah and the Last Day, to start inventing their own forms, rituals, and names of worship in the deen of Islam.

If one wishes to do a good deed before submitting his supplication to Allah Subhanah, there is absolutely no harm if he gives sadaqa, or performs a prayer, or does any other good deed; but he should abstain from making this act of worship a ritual, or inventing a name for this act, etc. That would be considered as starting an innovation or bida in the deen of Islam. The scholars of all the major schools of thought in Islam are absolutely unanimous in their opinion that the prayer called ‘Salaat-e-Haajat’ is a manifest innovation and was never ever performed or endorsed by the Messenger of Allah (saws).

Sahih Muslim Hadith 1885 Narrated by Jabir ibn Abdullah

That the Prophet of Allah (saws) said in a sermon: “The best speech is that which is embodied in the Book of Allah, the Al Quran; and the best guidance is the guidance given by me, Mohamed (saws). The most evil affairs are the innovations, and every innovation is an error.”

Your Question: PS> I do have hope and trust that Allah will give me what i want but is there something else that i can do in order to gain his Favour.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2248 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "There are three whose supplication is not rejected: one who has just ended a fast, a just imam, and one who has been wronged, whose supplication is raised by Allah above the clouds and for which the gates of Heaven are opened. The Lord says, 'I swear by My might that I shall certainly help you, though it be after some time.'"

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan