Aspects Of Islamic Faith — 125:
Practical Restrictions In Worship
Islamic Perspectives - Muslim Journals
Arab News & Information - By Adil Salahi
We discussed last week the question of women traveling
alone, which is the first of four points of
restriction outlined in the following Hadith: Abu
Saeed Al-Khudri, an Ansari companion of the Prophet
(peace be upon him) who was very close to him said: I
heard the Prophet mentioning four things that I
admired: that a woman must not travel a distance of
two days unless she is accompanied by her husband or a
mahram relative; two days are not allowed to fast
which are the two days of Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha;
no voluntary prayer may be offered after two
obligatory ones: after Asr until the sun has set and
after Fajr until the sun has risen; travel may be
undertaken only to three mosques: the Sacred Mosque
(in Makkah), this mosque of mine (in Madinah) and the
Aqsa mosque (in Jerusalem). (Related by Al-Bukhari)
The Prophet makes clear that fasting is prohibited on
two days of the year. These are the two days of Eid.
Eid Al-Fitr celebrates the end of Ramadan, the fasting
month. Hence, it separates the duty of fasting from
the time when fasting is not required but can be
undertaken either to compensate for Ramadan days on
which a person does not fast for a valid reason or as
a voluntary act of worship.
The other day is that of Eid Al-Adha, when Muslims are
strongly recommended to sacrifice a sheep for each
family. The sacrifice commemorates Prophet Ibrahim's
action when God gave him a ram to sacrifice, thus
saving his son, Ismael, whom he was ordered to
sacrifice. Also most pilgrims have to sacrifice a
sheep as a duty of their pilgrimage. We are
recommended to partake of the meat of the sacrifice,
keeping one-third for our families and giving away
two-thirds to relatives and poor people. It is then a
time of celebration. Fasting means self denial. The
two cannot go together. Hence, the prohibition to fast
on that day.
Prayer is also discouraged during two periods of the
day: After one has offered the obligatory dawn and
mid-afternoon prayers, i.e. Fajr and Asr. The time
range for Fajr is about 90 minutes ending at sunrise,
while Asr's time range extends from mid-afternoon
until sunset. When we have offered these obligatory
prayers we should not offer any voluntary prayer until
the sun has either risen well into the sky or has set.
This is to demonstrate that Islamic worship is totally
unlike that of pagan people who worshipped the sun and
prayed to it at its rise and setting.
The fourth point the reporter of the Hadith mentions
is traveling to certain mosques in order to pray
there. Islam considers the whole earth a place where
prayer can be offered. Only certain places, like
bathrooms, are not suitable for prayer. Otherwise, we
can pray anywhere. A mosque has an important role in
the life of the Muslim community, but it has no
special status that makes people travel especially to
visit and pray there. The only exceptions are the
three sacred mosques: the Grand Mosque in Makkah where
the Kaaba, built by the Prophets Ibrahim and Ismael
(peace be upon them), is situated; the mosque built by
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) in Madinah; and
the Al-Aqsa mosque built by Prophet Jacob in
Jerusalem. Prayers in these mosques receive multiple
reward.
That travel may not be undertaken to any other mosque
is to remove any thought of sanctity given to any
place, particularly to tombs of people who are given a
special status. There are many places in the Muslim
world where people thought by some to be saints are
buried. Their places of burial are treated as shrines
and are regularly visited by people who want to pray
and supplicate there. This is totally forbidden in
Islam. No one can judge any person, giving him or her
a special status. The deceased can be of no benefit to
the living. The reverse is true as the living can pray
to God to bestow mercy on the dead. God will answer
such supplication, if He so pleases. But the dead can
do nothing on behalf of the living.
©
EsinIslam.Com
Add Comments