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 brother

asak
1)Why do we read atahyathu lillahi..... during namaaz.I have heard that it is a salaam that has been personally sent by allah to the believers. why do we do salaam at the end of the prayer.?

2)My second question is regarding promises i had made to allah(swt) but was unable to keep them.To make it more clear i will give you the full picture.My childhood has been an extremely disturbing one where i have been ridiculed and molested by family members. I had developed a strong hatred for all of them and created my own world where i would imagine whatever and whomever i wanted. I spent my entire teen years like this.But unfortunately,now, as a 30 year old woman and a mother of 2 children i still imagine and fantasise about people especially men. I realised it was a wrong habit and tried to give it up by promising allah(swt) But after sometime i used to have a habit relapse and landed up doing the same thing. My husband lost his job and again i promised allah(swt) that i would give up this habit if my husband got the job.Alhamdulillah, he got the job.But again the habit hit me with such force that i was back to "normal". I did feel very miserable. i have cried a lot out of guilt feeling but i land up soing the same thing.I hated getting up for namaaz because i had to face allah(swt).I am trying my level best to get away from this habit and i have asked allah to release me from my promise.I would like to know if there is any kafara for this?I have broken this promise many times so how many times do i have to give kaffarah? Even during intercourse i imagine another man other than my husband. Have i done Zina?

Brother Burhaan this is my 4th letter to you . Please dont ignore it.I really need your help. may allah reward you with the best. 

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Answer:

Promises made

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.

Q-1A: Why do we read atahyathu lillahi..... during namaaz

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 9.352 Narrated by Malik

That he heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) say: "Pray as you have seen me pray.”

Dear and beloved Sister, every rite of worship has a particular way and method which alone is acceptable to our Lord Allah Subhanah; and the way to pray was taught to the Messenger of Allah (saws) by Hadrat Jibrael (a.s.), who himself worshipped the Lord and taught the believers to do the same.

At the end of offering the prayers, it is an obligatory act of prayer to sit down and read the final ‘tashahud’ as prayed and taught by the Messenger of Allah (saws), where first Allah Subhanah is Praised and Glorified, then the salutations of peace are said on the Prophet (saws) and the believers, then the testification of faith is declared, then the durood is recited, and finally ending with a supplication (optional) and the ‘tasleem’ to end the prayer.

Q-1B: why do we do salaam at the end of the prayer.?

Just as the prayers are started with the declaration of ‘takbeer’ or the Absolute Greatness of Allah Subhanah, the wisdom behind the ‘tasleem’, whereby the one praying offers salutations to all around him is an indication that the prayers have officially ended.

Every act has to have a start and a finish, and instead of stating before the prayers ‘Now I am starting the prayers’ or ending with the declaration ‘Now the prayers have ended’….Allah and His Messenger (saws) have made the prayers a beautiful and beneficial rite whereby it starts with the declaration of the Absolute Greatness of our Lord and ends with the message and salutations of peace to all around us.

Q-2: I am trying my level best to get away from this habit and i have asked allah to release me from my promise.I would like to know if there is any kafara for this?I have broken this promise many times so how many times do i have to give kaffarah?

Whatever deeds one might have done, if one turns to Allah Subhanah in sincere Taubah and seeks forgiveness, Allah Subhanah has promised in the Holy Quran that He will forgive all the sins of such a believer.

The conditions or ways to seek sincere Taubah or Repentance from the Merciful Lord are:

1. One is aware that he has sinned, and feels sorry and ashamed at his sin.
2. Makes a solemn covenant and promise with Allah that he will not repeat his sin again.
3. Turns to Allah and seeks forgiveness, before he has met with his appointment of death.
4. Is a believer and does righteous good deeds thereafter.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah Zumur verses 53-54:

(O Prophet) say: “O My servants who have wronged their own souls….Do not despair of Allah’s Mercy! Surely, Allah forgives all sins. He indeed is the All Forgiving, All Merciful. Return to your Lord and submit to Him before the scourge overtakes you; for then you may get no help from anywhere.”

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Dear and beloved sister in Islam, your realization, shame, and sorrow that you have expressed at your deed is precisely what seeking repentance is all about, and it is evident from your letter that you absolutely regret the doing of the deed and fear the Accounting in the Presence of your Majestic Lord on an Inevitable Day.

Beloved Sister, when one has an evil or sinful habit, seeks repentance and makes a promise to their Lord that they will never repeat that deed again, and then sincerely strives to remove that habit…it is expected that they will find their Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2357 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud

Allah's Messenger (saws) said, "He who repents of a sin is like him who has committed no sin."

If after seeking sincere repentance and making a solemn promise to Allah never to repeat the act again, one is again swayed by one’s emotions and the Shaytaan makes them fall into the same trap of sin again….The Messenger of Allah (saws) guided such believers that there is no atonement or ‘kaffarah’ for breaking such promises except to seek repentance again from their Merciful Lord. The Grace and Mercy of our Lord towards His repentant and believing slaves is indeed Vast and Endless; one may get tired of seeking repentance, but Allah Subhanah will never ever get tired of forgiving those who sincerely turn to Him and seek repentance!

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 2339 Narrated by Abu Sa'id

Allah's Messenger (saws) said that the Shaytaan said, "By Thy Might, my Lord, I shall continue to lead Thy servants astray as long as their spirits are in their bodies." The Lord, Who is Great and Glorious, replied, "By My Might, Glory and Exalted Station, I shall continue to pardon them as long as they ask My forgiveness."

Hadith Qudsi 34

The Messenger of Allah (saws) said that Allah Subhanah, High and Exalted He is, says: ‘O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me and ask of Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds of the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I would forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth and were you then to face Me, ascribing no partner to Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as it.’

Your Question: Even during intercourse i imagine another man other than my husband. Have i done Zina?

Although one cannot say that such a thought or imagination is as big an abomination as the actual sin of ‘zina’, such thoughts would nonetheless be a sin and one should fear Allah and seek His Protection from and Forgiveness for such thoughts; it is expected that they will find their Lord Forgiving and Merciful.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 7 Surah Aaraaf verses 200-201:

200 If a suggestion from the Shaytaan assail thy (mind), seek refuge with Allah; for He Heareth and Knoweth (all things).

201 Those who fear Allah, when a thought of evil from the Shaytaan assaults them bring Allah to remembrance; when lo! They see (aright)!

Dear and Beloved Sister, every time the Shaytaan whispers such evil thoughts in your mind, immediately bring to remembrance the promise you have made to your Lord, seek protection in your Lord from the evil whispering of the Shaytaan by declaring ‘Aoodo billahe minas shaytaan ir-rajeem’ and the constant recitation of the 113^th Surah Al-Falak and 114^th Surah An-Naas….it is expected that Allah Subhanah will protect you from the whisperings of the accursed Shaytaan.

Dear and Beloved Sister, whatever you do and whatever happens, never never ever despair of the Mercy of your Lord Most Gracious….for His Doors of Mercy are never ever closed for those who sincerely turn to Him and seek His repentance!

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 20 Surah Taha verse 82:

82 "But without doubt I (Allah) am He Who forgives again and again to those who repent, believe, and do right; who in fine are ready to receive true guidance."

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan