Ikram Hawramani's Blog, page 23

On betrayal from a friend

I found a girl in charity shop and I though she is really nice and kind. So we start friendship she used to text me call me all the time. We r like Best friend/sister.I was so happy. I'm a reupholster so she wanted to buy a chair and I told her the price. And she sad please I can't buy it because I don't have enough money . can you please teach me how to do. I'm not going to make it for sale. I want to do for my house. After that I sad OK sis. I teach her. And after that she start selling reupholster furniture. I ask her that sister you promised me that your not going to sell it. And she block me from all the app and everything stop.I'm very hurt. Don't known what to do. They have another business and 2 expensive car and now reupholster businesses still they live council house How.

Perhaps it would help to consider it a blessing that you were able to find out her bad character. As for her competing with your business, I wouldn’t worry about it. God provides for us from where we do not expect if we are obedient servants.

Best wishes.

The istikhara prayer is not a well-established part of Islam

A famous hadith of the Prophet PBUH teaches us about the istikhāra prayer, which is a prayer performed to request for God’s guidance in an important matter that a person is uncertain about. What is surprising is that this hadith comes to us from a rather low-quality chain of transmitters:

Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:

Jabir (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to teach us the Istikharah (seeking guidance from Allah) in all matters as he would teach us a Surah of the Qur'an. He used to say: "When one of you contemplates entering upon an enterprise, let him perform two Rak'ah of optional prayer other than Fard prayers and then supplicate: "Allahumma inni astakhiruka bi 'ilmika, wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika, wa as-'aluka min fadlikal-'azim. Fainnaka taqdiru wa la aqdiru, wa ta'lamu wa la a'lamu, wa Anta 'allamul- ghuyub. Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal-'amra (and name what you want to do) khairun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) 'ajili amri ajilihi, faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li, thumma barik li fihi. Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadhal 'amra (and name what you want to do) sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri, (or he said) wa 'ajili amri wa ajilihi, fasrifhu 'anni, wasrifni 'anhu, waqdur liyal- khaira haithu kana, thumma ardini bihi." (O Allah, I consult You through Your Knowledge, and I seek strength through Your Power, and ask of Your Great Bounty; for You are Capable whereas I am not and, You know and I do not, and You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allah, if You know that this matter (and name it) is good for me in respect of my Deen, my livelihood and the consequences of my affairs, (or he said), the sooner or the later of my affairs then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. But if You know this matter (and name it) to be bad for my Deen, my livelihood or the consequences of my affairs, (or he said) the sooner or the later of my affairs then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it, and grant me power to do good whatever it may be, and cause me to be contented with it). And let the supplicant specify the object."

Sahih al-Bukhari 1166

This hadith is the strongest existing hadith that mentions istikhāra. There are a few other hadiths but they are either weak or so low-quality as not to be worth considering. Below is a diagram of most existing chains of transmitters for this hadith:

I used probabilistic hadith criticism to judge the strength of this chain, and the result is that this hadith gets a score of 21.3% probability of authenticity, which is below the 30% needed for a hadith to be judged ṣaḥīḥ (authentic).

The instincts of hadith scholars are seldom wrong, and this hadith raised red flags among them due to coming to us through a single transmitter (ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī al-Mawālī), who is the person in the above diagram from whom all the chains branch out. Al-Tirmidhī and al-Dāraquṭnī considered the hadith gharīb (strange/unusual), while Imam Aḥmad considered it munkar (unusual and basically not worth taking too seriously).

Based on these facts, we can determine that the istikhāra prayer is not a strongly-supported part of Islam, as I have always suspected.

Now, there is no issue with praying to God for guidance. But doing it in this ritualistic way, as if it is some sort of magic spell designed to bring out assured results, has never felt very “Islamic” to me and goes against my Quran-taught instincts. Ideally we should pray for guidance constantly, and any practicing Muslim will pray for guidance at least 17 times a day during the ṣalāh as they recite Surat al-Fātiḥa (“Guide us to the Straight Path” is in verse 6). But performing the istikhāra seems to be an unnecessary and possibly fabricated addition to Islam.

However, since the hadith has a score of 21.3%, it is still a ḥasan (possibly authentic) rather than a ḍaʿīf (weak/unsound) hadith. So there is no justification for criticizing people who perform this prayer.

On the hadiths mentioning camel urine as a medicine

Assalamualaikum I wanted to know about Islam's stance on the consumption of camel urine. I read somewhere that a group of people was asked to drink it by the prophet(PBUH). Is that Hadith authentic? Also, do other versions of this narration (which do not mention camel urine) exist?

The hadith mentioning it is authentic. I haven’t studied the hadiths that mention camel urine as I do not consider it an important issue, especially since scientists have discovered camel urine to have medicinal properties. The most important benefit is its ability to kill microbes and prevent bacterial infections:

The inhibitory effect of camels  urine  on mycotoxins and fungal growthCamel urine components display anti-cancer properties in vitroThe unique medicinal properties of  camel  products: A review of the scientific evidenceCytotoxicity of the  urine  of different  camel  breeds on the proliferation of lung cancer cells, A549 In vitro assessment of the antimicrobial activity and biochemical properties of  camel’s urine  against some human pathogenic microbes

Being a good Muslim gets easier after 25

Why do you always suggest that biologically things would be better after we reach the age of 25?

The reason is that it is at the age of 25 that the most important part of brain development is complete. At this age it becomes much easier to control impulses and to act according to what you know to be right.

Was the salah originally 50 prayers?

A famous part of the Prophet’s Night Journey PBUH is the story of God making 50 daily prayers obligatory on Muslims. Below is an excerpt from a hadith from Sahih al-Bukhari that mentions this:

Among the things which Allah revealed to him then, was: "Fifty prayers were enjoined on his followers in a day and a night." Then the Prophet (ﷺ) descended till he met Moses, and then Moses stopped him and asked, "O Muhammad ! What did your Lord en join upon you?" The Prophet (ﷺ) replied," He enjoined upon me to perform fifty prayers in a day and a night." Moses said, "Your followers cannot do that; Go back so that your Lord may reduce it for you and for them."

Sahih al-Bukhari 7517

There are many strange aspects to this story: The idea that God prescribed 50 daily prayers, the idea that Prophet Muhammad PBUH did not complain, the idea that Prophet Moses had to speak up on behalf of the Muslims and lecture Prophet Muhammad on the number of daily prayers humans can handle, and the idea of the Prophet PBUH going back and forth between God and Moses to adjust the number of the prayers.

I decided to do a study of all existing chains of all hadiths that mention this “50 daily prayers” theme in order to find out just how strong their chains are. Below is a diagram of the result:

I used probabilistic hadith verification to calculate the strength of the chains. This method uses probability theory to bring out the hidden weaknesses in chains of transmitters. The result was as I expected: the hadiths all have very low-quality chains of transmitters. None of them reach the 30% probability of authenticity that is necessary for judging a hadith ṣaḥīḥ (“authentic”) using this method. In fact none of them even reach 20%:

First hadith: 4%Second hadith: 17.9%Third hadith: 11.64%Fourth hadith: 18.14%

The first hadith is so low-quality that it is actually undeserving of being in Sahih al-Bukhari (where it is found).

We can take a final step to combine all of these hadiths’ probabilities together. The result is 23.4% probability of authenticity. (See the linked essay for the details of how these calculations are done).

The verdict is that the supporting hadiths for the story are not strong enough for us to consider it proven that it happened. Therefore skeptical Muslims who find the story strange have the right to be skeptical about it, but I recommend that we keep open minds about it since there is still sufficient support for it that we cannot say with certainty that it is fabricated. (I understand that folks who like to see things in simple black and white terms will find this discussion rather useless, but the science of hadith is all about probabilities, not certainties, and it is important to remember this fact.)

Does the jizya tax apply in the modern world?

Assalamualaikum I would like to know about the jizya tax, the rationale behind it and whether it is compulsory for Muslims to impose this tax on non Muslims, especially in today's era.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

According to a fatwa by the Egyptian Fatwa Authority, the jizya tax only applies in cases where there is a Muslim army defending non-Muslim inhabitants who do not participate in the army. The tax is levied to support the army. But in modern countries where the army is made up of both Muslims and non-Muslims, the jizya tax no longer applies.

However, a non-Muslim community in a Muslim-majority country can be given the option of paying the tax in order to avoid having to serve in the army.

References

Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)

On directing one’s passions to serve God

Salam, I read the ask from another person about feeling a lack of passion and I related to this question. But for me, I feel a lack of passion because I don't know how to correctly repurpose my passions to serve The Lord. For example I love painting and writing speculative fiction. But I don't know how doing that could help my Akhirah, especially because a lot of Muslims refer to this as a waste of time, and so I lose motivation and passion and end up wondering around lost.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

If you sincerely ask God for guidance on how to make yourself useful, then He will show you the way. God does not guide those who are proud, heedless or sinful, therefore a person who truly seeks guidance should begin by purifying themselves from all sins and insincerity. The next step would be to dedicate an extra amount of time everyday to God’s remembrance, such as reading the Quran for an hour everyday. And it is at this point that you can ask for guidance knowing that God will guide you and will be with you every step of the way.

I would think that painting and speculative fiction are ideal places for a Muslim eager to serve God. You could create meaningful art or write inspiring and meaningful fiction.

On feeling that God does not help or care about humanity

I feel God doesn't exist. my life is about to end. i feel so hurt. But nobody cares. Allah doesn't help. He don't care about his mankind.

In my own life there have been periods where I felt I was abandoned by God, but I realize that it was always due to may own actions and my own refusal to truly submit to Him. As soon as I did that, everything changed. God can allow you to feel abandoned in order to show you your own weakness and desperate need for Him. But a person who has truly submitted will realize that God always prevents their lives from becoming intolerably bad. Things get bad for a while but God always comes in and saves the day from an unexpected direction.

Please see my essays:

God has not abandoned you: Regaining your sense of purpose when life feels spiritually empty, lonely and meaningless

Islam and Depression: A Survival Guide

She has difficulty resisting masturbation

I am a girl I have suffered from masturbation for a very long time ever since I was a child and I didn't even know what I was doing and yet I was addicted to it as I grew up I tried very hard to abandon this but every month or so I reach a point where I get so overcome I start to think there's nothing really wrong with it so I do it again and then I feel like I'm the worst its become a cycle I repent and I then I do it again at this point I feel too embarrassed to even try to repent what to do

Your ability to resist impulses does not fully develop until the age of 25. If you are younger than that, do your best but realize that you will lose this fight many more times. Rather than feeling guilty about it, every time you masturbate you can make up for it by reading the Quran for an hour, or doing some other act of worship.

Also note that masturbation is not a big issue in Islam, please see my article: Masturbation is not clearly forbidden or allowed in Islam

Is it bad to be reclusive as a Muslim?

Is it bad to be reclusive and not talk to people unless spoken to?

Islam does not ask you to do more than you are able. Some people are simply more reclusive than others. If you can carry out your duties and maintain polite relationships with people then reclusiveness is not an issue. Also note that many great scholars, such as Ibn al-Jawzi, recommended staying away from most people due to their often harmful talk and gossip. He recommends staying at home to read and avoiding going to social gatherings whenever possible in order to focus on reading and learning.