The Telephone and the Woman by Shaykh Bakr ‘Abdullah Aboo Zayd

If one of the speakers is a woman then she must be cautious of being soft spoken. Indeed Allah the Glorified prohibited the wives of His Prophet, peace be upon him, the Mother of the Believers, Allah be pleased with them, from being spoken to in a seductive manner by the one who is moved with desire. And they in the time of the prophet hood and lifetime of the companions, Allah be pleased with them, were forbidden from being soft spoken, the Most High says:

{Do not be soft spoken unless the one in whose hear is a disease should be moved with desire but speak in an honorable manner.} Soorat-ul-Ahzaab: 32

So what about those women besides them? Indeed their prohibition of being soft spoken is from the most befitting. Therefore fear Allah O believing women, do not be soft spoken, speak in a good and honorable manner. Meaning, with no softness of tone or prolonged speech, the woman does not address the men she is not married to as she would address her husband.

The woman must be cautious in engaging in lengthy discussions with men that she is not married to even with her relatives that she is not allowed to be alone with according to what the Divine Legislation has forbidden, and the souls refuse it, and brings about in the same listener closeness.

She must also be cautious in raising her voice louder than normal and talking for a prolonged period of time while still being cautious of (avoiding) beautification, gentleness, softness, elegance, and flirtatiousness in a gentle tone and soft spoken manner.

Just as it is impermissible for her then it is also impermissible for the man to listen to her voice indulgently, even if she was reading the Quran. If the woman perceives that then it is impermissible for her to continue speaking with him due to the trial that it leads to.

And here (mention) is set aside for the man, the protector of the home, to arrange his affairs based on guarding and upholding virtue and to protect those that are sacred. So the woman (of the home) should not be the first one responsible for answering the phone while the male relatives are present. She should not respond in the presence of their absence under any circumstances, rather, the man of the home should direct her according to the circumstances and necessities he sees fit. And it is obligatory for her to hear and obey in honor, protecting what is more properly (to be protected) and leaving off any issues of difficulty.

Written by: Shaykh Bakr ‘Abdullah Aboo Zayd, may Allah have mercy upon him.  
Taken from Adab-ul-Haatif (The Islamic Manners of Using the Telephone) Pages 15 – 16. 
Translated by: Thomas Maldonado on 10/08/2008.

Using Topical Medication that contains Pig Fat: Islamic Ruling by Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen

The questioner has a big problem which she hopes that maybe we can summarize a ruling for her. She says that her mother used some medications and remedies for her hair that caused most of it to fall out. She says that she is embarrassed or something to this effect whenever she sits with the other women. She mentioned that a person was afflicted with what she was where most of his hair fell out and he used a remedy that cured him and caused his hair to grow back thicker. She said that he was cured and the hair grew back in thicker amounts. She wanted to get the remedy from him but he told her that after he had been cured he was told by those who could read English that the remedy contained pig fat and some of its blood. She wants to know if it is still permissible for her to use this medication since she is against using hair braids since she holds that it is impermissible for the Muslim woman. She hopes to benefit from his eminence.

Answer: All praise is for Allah, honestly this question contains two issues. The first is the use of hair braids for this type of condition which you have described that the hair has fallen out and there is no hope that it will grow back. Regarding this issue then we say that there is no harm in using hair braids for this type of condition since realistically this adding to the hair is not for the purpose of beautification. Rather it is to remove a deficiency so based on this reason it is not considered from the braiding where the Prophet (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) had cursed the one who braids the hair “he cursed the female who braided the hair and the female who sought for it to be done”.

The Waasilah is the female who braids fake hair into real hair. However this woman in reality does not resemble the Waasilah since she did not add the fake hair for the purpose of beautification or for adding hair which Allah the Blessed, the Most High has created. She wanted to remove a deficiency that occurred so there is no problem with this since it is to remove a deficiency not to add for the purpose of beautification which there is a difference between the two.

As for using this medicine that has pig fat in it, if it is confirmed that there is in fact pig fat in it then there is nothing wrong with that when done out of necessity since the only thing that is actually prohibited is eating it. Allah says: {Rather you have been forbidden cadaver, blood, or flesh of the swine}. And Allah Most High says commanding his Messenger (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him): {Say; I find no impressibility in what has been revealed to me for the person who gives others food to eat to do so, so long as it is not cadaver meat, spilled blood, or flesh of the swine}.

It has been established from the Prophet (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) that he forbade eating the meat of the cadaver but allowed that benefit be derived from its skin after it was tanned. It has also been established from him that he forbade drinking alcohol, eating meat of the cadaver, flesh of the swine, and worshiping idols.

It was said to him, “O Messenger of Allah, what do you say about the fat of the cadaver which is used to paint the boats with and is rubbed on the skin by the people?” The Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “No it is not permissible”…here he meant selling it since it is the topic of the narration and the companions (may Allah be pleased with them all) relayed this not for the sake of them knowing the ruling of these issues but for the sake of justifying its sale. They said that these benefits that the people derive from using it does not justify that it can be sold. The Prophet (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said that it was impermissible so based on this using medication of this type to rub into the head if it is proven to be beneficial then the need is applicable and if she uses it then she must wash it off before prayer since pig fat is impure, and that is only if the medication is proven to contain this ingredient.

Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen
Translated by:  Thomas Maldonado
Source: http://www.ibnothaimeen.com/all/noor/article_4629.shtml

Selected Benefits from Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen’s Explanation of Kitaab-ut-Tawheed

Benefit One

The Categories of Tawheed are three:

1 – Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah: and it is to single out Allah with being the creator, the owner of all the dominion, the one who controls all of the affairs of the universe.

2- Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah: and it is to single out Allah in worship.

3 – Tawheed al-Asmaa’ was-Sifaat: and it is to single out Allah by His Names and His Attributes without Tahreef (Distortion), Ta’teel (To deny Allah’s attributes), Takyeef (Saying how something is done), and Tamtheel (To compare Allah to the creation).

Therefore Tawheed has two issues connected to it:

1 – an-Nafyee (Negation) “Laa Ilaha” (There is no focal point worthy of worship)

2- al-Ithbaat (Affirmation) “Illa Allah” (Except for Allah)

Benefit Two

The decree of Allah (al-Qadhaa) consists of two categories:

1 – Kawnee (Having to do with the universe and all that is in it): This occurs by necessity. It consists of what Allah loves and what He does not love.

2 – Shar’ee (Having to do with the divine legislation): This consists of only what Allah loves. It occurs or it may not occur.

Issue: How is it that Allah decrees what He does not love?
Answer: That which Allah loves (al-Mahboob) consists of two categories:

1 – Mahboob li-Ghayrih : (Loved for something else) This is disliked within itself but loved because of the benefit and wisdom that is contained within. So it is loved to Allah from one aspect but disliked from another. This can be likened to the situation of the sick person and medicine whether it is cauterization (medical treatment by using a hot iron tip) or something else. It is loved from one aspect but disliked from another.

2 – Mahboob li-Dhaatih: (Loved within itself) There is no issue concerning this part of al-Mahboob (as it is understood).

Benefit Three

There are three types of Thulm (oppression):

1 – The oppression of mankind concerning the rights of Allah such as ash-Shirk and this is the greatest type of oppression.

2 – The oppression of mankind upon themselves such as one overburdening himself with something that he has no power of fulfilling.

3 – The oppression of mankind upon others such as murder without right and this is the greatest type of oppression concerning the right of a human being over another.

Benefit Four

Supplication (ad-Dua’aa) consists of two categories:

1 – What is known as Dua’aa-ul-‘Ibaadah (the supplication of worship): Directing the supplication to others besides Allah is considered Shirk Akbar (Major Polytheism). So whoever supplicates in a devotional manner to what is created then that person has committed Shirk Akbar.

2 – What is known as Dua’aa-ul-Mas’alah (the supplication of asking for something) which consists of three categories:

A - Supplicating to Allah Most High which is an act of worship.

B – Asking from someone besides Allah who is not able to carry out only what Allah can such as one who requests the dead feed him or requests that someone cure his illness, this is considered Shirk Akbar.

C – Asking someone besides Allah who is able to fulfill the request such as asking a living person to feed him, then this is permissible.

From: al-Fawaaid al-Muntaqaah min Sharh Kitaab-it-Tawheed 
(Selected Benefits from the Explanation of the Book of Monotheism)
Written by: Shaykh Muhammad bin Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen
Translated by Thomas Maldonado on 09/03/2010

Observances the New Muslim Should Do and Sins that should be Avoided by Shaykh Saalih bin Fawzaan al-Fawzaan

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

All praise is for Allah and may His peace and blessings be bestowed upon our Prophet Muhammad, as well as his family and companions. To proceed: Allah created mankind to worship Him as the Most High says: {I did not create the Jinn or mankind except to worship me}. One does not worship Allah except by what He legislated and revealed to His messengers. They were the ones who fully explained to their people what was legislated for the servants to perform since worshiping Allah with acts that He did not legislate is invalid.

Allah completed the prophet hood of the messengers with the last messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and He made it compulsory for all of mankind to follow him. The Most High says: {Say: O People! Indeed I am a messenger of Allah sent to all of you.}  Therefore whoever does not believe in Muhammad as the final messenger sent to mankind is a disbeliever. The religion of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, is Islam and Allah will not accept any other religion. The Most High says: {Whoever seeks another religion besides Islam, then it will never be accepted of him and in the hereafter he will be from the losers.} 

Islam is the religion revealed to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and it consists of five pillars: the attestation that there is nothing worthy of worship except for Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, the establishment of five daily prayers, the payment of alms, fasting in the month of Ramadan, and pilgrimage to the sacred house of Allah for the one who is able to do so. 

The person who wishes to convert to Islam first proclaims the two attestations of faith, then begins to practice the aforementioned pillars based on the following examples:

First, the person says verbally, “I bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except for Allah, and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” 

Second, the person prays five daily prayers –the early Morning Prayer, the Noon Prayer, the Afternoon Prayer, the Sunset Prayer, and the Evening Prayer. One preforms these prayers daily and nightly for the rest of one’s lifetime. The early Morning Prayer consists of two units of worship, the Noon Prayer consists of four units of worship, the Afternoon Prayer consists of four units of worship, the Sunset Prayer consists of three units of worship, and the Evening Prayer consists of four units of worship. The person does not pray until first having performed ablution which is structured upon washing the entire face, the hands up to the elbows, wiping over the head, and the feet up to the ankles utilizing clean water. 

Third, if a person has earned a significant amount of wealth that is beyond one’s means, then one gives 2.5% of one’s earnings as alms to the poor and those in need once a year. If a person does not earn beyond one’s means, then the payment of alms is not obligatory for one to pay. 

Fourth, one must fast during the month of Ramadan which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. One refrains from eating, drinking, and sexual intercourse from sunrise until sunset. 

Fifth, if one has the financial and physical means, then one should travel to perform the pilgrimage to the house of Allah, once in one’s lifetime. However, if one has the financial means, but not the physical means, whether due to age or a permanent illness, then one can entrust another to perform on their behalf.

The sins that the new Muslim should avoid are the following: 

First, one does not associate any partners with Allah in any of its forms when worshipping Allah as it is considered only to be done for Him. Such examples are supplicating to dead people, slaughtering animals for them, and swearing to an oath using their names. 

Second, one does not commit religious acts of innovations which are acts of worship that were not revealed to the messenger Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, based on his statement: (Whoever does an act that has not been commanded by Allah will have it rejected), which means Allah will not accept it. 

Third, one does not engage in dealing with interest, gambling, bribery, lying during business transactions, in addition to selling impermissible products and making a profit from them.

Fourth, one does not engage in sexual intercourse unless one is married and one does not engage in homosexuality. 

Fifth, one does not drink alcohol, eat pork, and eat meat slaughtered to false gods or dead animal flesh. 

Sixth, one does not marry the non-Muslim women except for the People of the Book. 

Seventh, one should divorce his non-Muslim wife unless she is from the People of the Book. But if she converts with her husband or converts during the divorce period, they can remain married. 

Eighth, if circumcision will not harm the new male Muslim convert, then he should have it performed by a Muslim physician. 

Ninth, if one cannot emigrate from the non-Muslim lands to the lands of Islam, then one should remain in one’s land while adhering to the religion of Islam. 

Written by Saalih bin Fawzaan al-Fawzaan, member of the Organization of Major Scholars in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, on 03/19/1433 A.H. corresponding to 01/01/2012 and translated by Thomas Maldonado on 12/29/2012.