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 SAB ASSALAM O ALAIKUM,

PLS ANSWER MY FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

1. BEFORE WAZU WE HAVE TO SAY BISMILLAH, IS IT WRONG TO SAY BISMILLAH HIRRAHAMA NIRRAHIM, ? IF YES PLS JUSTIFY.

2. IF ANY PERSON NAME IS MOHSIN WHICH IS SIFAAT OF ALLAH OR SHAKOOR WHICH IS ALSO A SIFAAT OF ALLAH, IF YOU CALL THAT PERSON BY NAME JUST SHAKOOR OR MOHSIN IS IT WRONG OR COMPULSORILY YOU HAVE TO CALL HIM ABDUL SHAKOOR OR ABDUL MOHSIN, WHERE AS IT IS LEARNT FROM THE BOOKS THAT ALLAH`S SIFAAT IS AL-MOHSIN AND AL-SHAKOOR, SO PLS CLARIFY .

3. WHAT IS THE DISTANCE OF SUTRA ? IF ANY PERSON PRAYING WITHOUT SUTRA AND YOU ARE CROSSING AT THE DISTANCE OF TWO OR 3 METERS, CAN YOU ? AND WHO IS TO BE BLAME IF NAMAZI HAS NOT KEPT SUTRA.?

PLS REPLY , JAZAKALLAH.

YOURS ISLAMIC BROTHER,

(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:

Responsibility of sutra

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 none 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: BEFORE WAZU WE HAVE TO SAY BISMILLAH, IS IT WRONG TO SAY BISMILLAH HIRRAHAMA NIRRAHIM, ? IF YES PLS JUSTIFY.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 402 Narrated by Sa'id ibn Zayd

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘No ablution (is perfect) in which ‘Bismillah’ is not mentioned (while starting it).’

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would always start his ablution by declaring only ‘Bismillah’ and not ‘Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem’. Allah is our witness brother, if the declaration of ‘Bismillah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem’ was better or more meritorious or required when starting one’s ‘wudu’, the Messenger of Allah (saws) would have declared it.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21:

There is indeed the best example for you to follow in the Messenger of Allah, for every such person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.

Thus if one wishes to follow the Sunnah or way of the Messenger of Allah (saws), then one should declare only ‘Bismillah’ when starting their ablution. But if one mistakenly declares ‘Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem’ when starting one’s wudu, the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that although not encouraged, their ‘wudu’ would still be considered as valid.

Your Question: IF ANY PERSON NAME IS MOHSIN WHICH IS SIFAAT OF ALLAH OR SHAKOOR WHICH IS ALSO A SIFAAT OF ALLAH, IF YOU CALL THAT PERSON BY NAME JUST SHAKOOR OR MOHSIN IS IT WRONG OR COMPULSORILY YOU HAVE TO CALL HIM ABDUL SHAKOOR OR ABDUL MOHSIN, WHERE AS IT IS LEARNT FROM THE BOOKS THAT ALLAH`S SIFAAT IS AL-MOHSIN AND AL-SHAKOOR, SO PLS CLARIFY .

Firstly, although one of the listed Names and Attributes of Allah Subhanah relayed by the Messenger of Allah (saws) is indeed ‘Ash-Shukoor’ (The Appreciative), ‘Al-Mohsin’ is not specifically listed as one of the exclusive Attributes of Allah Subhanah.

Most of the Blessed Names of Allah Subhanah or ‘Asma-ul-Husna’ are the Absolute Exclusive Attributes of Allah Subhanah, and it would be a manifestation of shirk to call someone in creation by those names. For example, Ar-Rahmaan ( The Beneficent), Ar-Razzaak (The Provider), Al-Khaliq ( The Creator), Al-Mutakabbir ( The Majestic Greatest), etc. These Attributes are Absolutely Exclusive to Allah Subhanah.

Then among His Names are some attributes which Allah Subhanah has himself used for human beings. For example Allah Subhanah has called Prophet Mohamed’s (saws) attribute towards the believers as ‘rauf’(kind) and ‘raheem’ (merciful) in the Glorious Quran; and Prophet Yusuf (a.s.) has called himself ‘hafiz’ (one who preserves) and ‘aleem’ (knowing); even though ‘Ar-Rauf’, ‘Ar-Raheem’, ‘Al-Aleem’, and Al-Hafiz’ are listed amongst the Attributes of Allah Subhanah.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verse 128:

Now hath come unto you a Messenger (Prophet Mohamed (saws)) from amongst yourselves: it grieves him that ye should perish: ardently anxious is he over you: to the believers is he ‘rauf’ (most kind) and ‘raheem’ (merciful).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 12 Surah Yusuf verse 55:

(Yusuf (a.s.)) said: "Set me over the storehouses of the land: I am a ‘hafiz’ (preserver) and a ‘aleem’ (one that knows their importance)."

Although these names of Ar-Rauf, Ar-Raheem, Al-Hafiz, Al-Aleem are the Attributes of Allah Subhanah, they can also be used for human beings. But when these names are used for human beings, their meanings will be strictly measured and obviously not used in the same vastness and enormity in meaning as when the same names are used to describe the Noble Attributes of Allah Subhanah.

Thus there is absolutely no harm if one keeps his name or the name of his loved ones ‘Ali’, or ‘Rauf’, or ‘Raheem’, or ‘Hafiz’, or ‘Aleem’, etc.

But if one calls or believes that a human being can be compared to Allah Subhanah’s Attributes in the fullest meaning of the name, then it would obviously be a manifestation of the heinous crime of ‘shirk’.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 42 Surah Shura verse 33:

33 If it be His Will He can still the Wind: then would they become motionless on the back of the (ocean). Verily in this are Signs for everyone who patiently perseveres and is ‘shakoor’ (grateful).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 112:

112 Nay! Whoever submits his whole self to Allah, and is a ‘Muhsin’ (doer of good) he will get his reward with his Lord; on such shall be no fear nor shall they grieve.

Allah Subhanah has Himself used the terms ‘shukoor’ and ‘muhsin’ as a description of some human beings in His creation; thus there is absolutely no harm if one is named or called Shakoor or Mohsin alone.

Your Question: WHAT IS THE DISTANCE OF SUTRA ? IF ANY PERSON PRAYING WITHOUT SUTRA AND YOU ARE CROSSING AT THE DISTANCE OF TWO OR 3 METERS, CAN YOU ? AND WHO IS TO BE BLAME IF NAMAZI HAS NOT KEPT SUTRA.?

Abu Hurairah relates that the Prophet (saws) said: "When one of you prays, he should place something in front of him (as a sutra). If he cannot find anything, he should prop up his staff [in front of him]. If he does not have a staff, he should draw a line [on the ground in front of him] then nothing that passes in front of him will harm him."

Related by Ahmad and Abu Dawud and Ibn Hibban.

The responsibility of placing the sutra lies upon the one who is offering the prayer, and he should place the ‘sutra’ a few inches or a foot-or-two (maximum) beyond his place of prostration in prayer.

Your Question: IF ANY PERSON PRAYING WITHOUT SUTRA AND YOU ARE CROSSING AT THE DISTANCE OF TWO OR 3 METERS, CAN YOU ?

Busr ibn Sa'id says that Zaid ibn Khalid sent him to Abu Juhaim to ask him what he had heard from the Prophet (saws) concerning passing in front of someone who is praying. He said that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said: "If one knew [the sin] of passing in front of one who is praying, he would rather wait forty [...] than to pass in front of him."

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Ibn al-Qayyim writes: "Jurists of the stature of Ibn Hibban and others are of the opinion that the prohibition mentioned in the above hadith applies when one is praying with a ‘sutrah’. If one is praying without a ‘sutrah’, it is not forbidden to pass in front of him. As a proof, Ibn Hibban argues by the hadith, in his sahih, from al-Mutalib ibn Abi Wid'ah who said: 'I saw the Prophet (saws) when he (saws) finished the circumambulation [of the Ka'bah], he (saws) went to the end of the circuit and he prayed two rak'at and there was nothing between him and the people who were circumambulating." Ibn Hibban says: "This report proves that it is permissible to pass in front of a person who is praying but without a ‘sutrah’. In this lies a clear proof that the warning concerning passing in front of one who is praying refers only to one who is praying toward his sutrah and does not refer to one who does not have a sutrah." Ibn Hibban further explains that the Prophet's (saws) prayer was without anything between him and the people circumambulating the Ka'bah. At the end of the hadith of al-Mutalib, he records: "I saw the Prophet of Allah (saws) offering salah facing the black stone and the men and women were passing in front of him, and there was no ‘sutrah’ between him and them.

The general practice of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was that when praying in the open, he (saws) would almost always place a ‘sutra’. In most mosques today, the floors are carpeted or tiled, and there are clear lines drawn to signify the rows which act as a natural ‘sutra’. Although one should strive their best to avoid walking in front of one who is praying, if one were to pass two or three meters in front of one who is praying, the vast majority of the scholars and jurists in Islam are of the opinion that there is no harm.

But one who sincerely believes in Allah and the Last Day must strive never to walk between a person who is in the state of prayer and his place of prostration, while the person is engaged in prayer.

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