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When the Mother has a Noble Mission
Author : Dr. Mohammad Al-Zou`bi
Date Added : 06-12-2022

 

When the Mother has a Noble Mission

 

 

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

Abu Hurairah (May Allah be pleased with him) reported: A person came to Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and asked: "Who among people is most deserving of my fine treatment?" He (PBUH) said: "Your mother". He again asked: ''Who next?" "Your mother", the Prophet (PBUH) replied again. He asked: "Who next?" He (the Prophet (PBUH) said again: "Your mother." He again asked: "Then who?" Thereupon he (PBUH) said: "Then your father." [Agreed upon].

 

This is so true because the mother is the one that experiences significant stress while pregnant and comes close to death when she going into labor. She is the same person that stayed up nights looking after her children and deprived herself from food to make them full. It was narrated that Mu’awiyah Ibn Jahimah As-Sulaimi said: “I came to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: "Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and honor her.’ Then I approached him from the other side and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: ‘Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and honour her.’ Then I approached him from in front and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah, I want to go for Jihad with you, seeking thereby the Face of Allah and the Hereafter.’ He said: ‘Woe to you! Is your mother still alive?’ I said: ‘Yes.’ He said: ‘Go back and serve her, for there is Paradise." {Sunan Ibn Majah}. No matter what you do to your mother, it is nothing compared to her sacrifices for you.

The mother is responsible for upbringing her children to be righteous as herself because she recites the Quran and observes the five daily prayers. She raises her sons to be honest, trustful, and courageous. Similarly, she raises her daughters to be chaste, pure, decent, and Sharia-compliant. She is the maker of heroes because the poet Hafid Ibrahim said about her: "The mother is a school. If you prepared and educated her well, you will have prepared an entire nation."

 

The mother is the counterpart of the father and represents half of society. Rather, a mother is a whole nation, and this is why it was said (What means): "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." One example of this is Asma Bint Abi Baker {May Allah be pleased with them}. One time, her son came to her and consulted her about what to do with Al-Hajjaj who besieged him in Makkah. She said to him that if he was right then he should go ahead, but if he was wrong then he will perish. He said to her that he was afraid that Al-Hajaj will mutilated him. She replied by saying {what means} that skinning a slaughtered goat doesn`t harm it a bit. This is in addition to many other examples from the life of the righteous predecessors.

However, some parents are passive and play no role in the lives of their children. It is as if the children were orphaned at early age. This why one poet mentioned that some children are orphans not because their parents were dead but because they were totally absent as far as their duties towards their children are concerned.

Dear fathers and mothers,

 

Be mindful of Allah and know that your children are a trust with you and that Allah placed this responsibility on you, made you their guardians, and will hold you liable for that on the Day of Resurrection.

An educator is like a farmer who removes weeds and plants new seeds. Therefore, never neglect your children for this makes them an easy prey for your enemies, and a closer look at real life events is the best evidence on this.

Allah has spoken the truth when He Said (What means): "O ye who believe! save yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones, over which are (appointed) angels stern (and) severe, who flinch not (from executing) the Commands they receive from God, but do (precisely) what they are commanded." {At-Tahrim/6}. We pray that Allah protects our children, forgives our fathers and mothers, protects our homeland, and makes us among those who listen to the word and follow the best of it.

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on a woman who learns of her divorce or her husband's death after her *ʿiddah* has ended? And does the *ʿiddah* of a woman who abandoned mourning (*iḥdād*) for the whole period of the *ʿiddah*, or part of it, still end, even though she knew that abandoning it is forbidden?**

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The waiting period of a widow who is not pregnant is four months and ten days, based on the saying of Allah Almighty (which means): “And those of you who die and leave wives behind, they shall wait concerning themselves for four months and ten days” [al-Baqarah/234]. If she is pregnant, her ʿiddah ends with the delivery of her child. The ʿiddah is calculated by lunar months and begins from the date of death.
If her ʿiddah ends before she learns of her husband’s death, or of his divorcing her, she does not observe the ʿiddah upon learning of it, because her ʿiddah has already ended.
It is stated in al-Bayān fī Madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (Vol.11/p.41), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “If a man divorces his wife, or dies while he is absent from her, her ʿiddah is from the time of the divorce or from the time of death. If she does not know of the divorce or the death until her ʿiddah period has ended, then her ʿiddah has ended. If she learns of it before the end of the ʿiddah period, she completes her ʿiddah counting from the time of the divorce or death.”
As for a woman who abandoned mourning throughout the ʿiddah while knowing that it is forbidden, she is sinful, although her ʿiddah has nonetheless ended. And Allah Almighty knows best.

Does Laylat al-Qadr move between the nights of Ramadan?

Laylat al-Qadr is definitely in Ramadan, and it is most likely in the last ten nights, especially on the odd-numbered nights.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ commanded observing worship in the last ten nights, and he himself used to dedicate those nights to worship. Many people put special effort into the 27th night of Ramadan, and they are rewarded in any case, whether they actually coincide with Laylat al-Qadr or not, because worshiping on any night of Ramadan carries great rewards.
 

What is the ruling of Islamic Law if the follower (maʾmūm) stands up for the third rakʿah out of forgetfulness while the imam has sat for the middle tashahhud?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
If the imam sits for the tashahhud while the follower (maʾmūm), out of forgetfulness, stands up for the third rakʿah, he is obliged to return to his sitting position, since following the imam is obligatory. In this case, no prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd al-sahw) is required of him. If, however, he fails to return, his prayer is rendered invalid.
Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "If the follower stands up alone out of forgetfulness, he is obliged to return, since following the imam is obligatory... If he does not return, his prayer is rendered invalid, due to his departure from what is obligatory." [Asnā al-Maṭālib,Vol.1/P.190] And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on giving Zakat al-Fitr in cash?

The default ruling is that Zakat al-Fitr should be given as the staple food of the land. In Jordan, for example, the staple food is wheat or rice, and the amount of Zakat al-Fitr is 2,500 grams per person. It is easy to give this amount of rice to the poor and needy, and this is the correct ruling according to all Islamic schools of thought.
However, Hanafi scholars have permitted giving Zakat al-Fitr as monetary value, considering it more beneficial for the poor and easier for the giver.