عربي
Home


Articles

Articles

Tips for a Happy Family
Author : Dr. Hassan Abu_Arqoub
Date Added : 08-12-2022

 

Dear husband,

 

In the beginning, we ask Allah to shower you and your wife with His blessings. We take the opportunity to remind you with the following pieces of advice from Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to ensure happiness of your household and continued love between you and your wife:

 

1- Your wife is a trust with you and you will be held accountable for this trust Before Almighty Allah, so fear Allah while treating your wife. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Treat women kindly, they are like captives in your hands…." {Al-Tirmithi}. Moreover, he (PBUH) warned against wronging women where he said: "O Allah, I declare inviolable the rights of two weak ones: the orphans and women" [Ahmad & Ibn Majah and graded its chain of narrators by a sound one].

 

2- Good character and nobility are among the characteristics of the believers, so embrace them. Don`t be mean to your wife and consider her good characteristics. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "A believer must not hate (his wife) believing woman; if he dislikes one of her characteristics he will be pleased with another." [Moslim].

 

3- Patience and tolerance are attributes that prolong love between spouses, so make sure to embrace them. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "The best of you is the one who is best to his wife, and I am the best of you to my wives." {Al- Tirmithi}.

4- Jealousy for the wife is a sign of faith and love. Because The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Are you surprised at Sa'd's jealousy of his honour? By Allah, I am more jealous of my honour than he, and Allah is more jealous than I." {Moslim}.

 

5- Suspicion and mistrust lead to spying and consequently breakdown of the family, so avoid them, because Allah The Almighty Said {What means}: "O ye who believe! Shun much suspicion; for lo! some suspicion is a crime. And spy not, neither backbite one another. Would one of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Ye abhor that (so abhor the other)! And keep your duty (to Allah). Lo! Allah is Relenting, Merciful." [Al-Hujurat/12].

 

6- Observe forbearance and kindness when dealing with your wife; especially in the event of her slipping or making a mistake. Try to be of mature thought and keen on preserving your family and home.  Since the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Whenever forbearance is added to something, it adorns it; and whenever it is withdrawn from something, it leaves it defective." [Moslim].

 

7- Spend on your wife with kindness and you will have your reward from Allah. Since The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Whatever you spend seeking thereby The Pleasure of Allah, will have its reward, even the morsel which you put in the mouth of your wife". [Agreed upon].

 

8- The right of the wife upon husband is to provide her with food, drink or garment whenever he provides himself with any of these. The Prophet (PBUH) was asked: "Messenger of God, what right can any wife demand of her husband?" He replied: "That you should give her food when you eat, clothe her when you clothe yourself, not strike her on the face, and do not revile her or separate from her except in the house." [Transmitted by Ahmad, Abu Dawood and Ibn Majah].

 

9- Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) is a necessity, so learn from it how to deal with your wife, your mutual rights and obligations, and teach these rules to her if she doesn`t know them.

 

10- Revealing wife`s secrets is both immoral and forbidden, so eschew such cowardly act, since The Prophet (PBUH) said: "The worst of people in position before Allah on the Day of Resurrection is the man who has intercourse with his wife, and she with him, and then spreads her secrets." [Moslim].

 

In conclusion, chivalry dictates that spouses overlook each other's slips and mistakes in case of separation and divorce. A righteous man was once asked: "What do you dislike about your wife?" He replied: "A prudent person doesn`t reveal a secret." When he divorced her, he was asked: "Why did you divorce her?" He said: "She isn`t my wife any more, she is a stranger to me."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Wife,

 

In the beginning, we ask Allah to shower you and your husband with His blessings. We take the opportunity to remind you with the following pieces of advice from Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to ensure happiness of your household and continued love between you and your husband:

 

1- Contentment and satisfaction with little, so avoid driving your husband to means of illicit gains. Some women of the righteous predecessors used to tell their husbands when they were about to leave home: "Avoid illicit means of gain for we can endure hunger but can`t endure Hell fire!"

 

2- Wife must obey husband in that which is lawful, so eschew disobeying him, raising your voice when speaking to him, and complaining to your family about him. Al-Husayn Ibn Muhsan reported that his aunt came to the Prophet for a need, and when she finished, the Prophet asked her: "Do you have a husband?" She replied: "Yes." He said: "How do you treat him?” She replied: "I try to fulfill all his rights upon me unless I am unable to do so.” Thereupon, he  said: "Look to how you are with respect to him, for he is your Heaven or Hell (i.e. you will be admitted to Paradise or thrown into hell according to the way you treat him)." [Ahmad and Nasa`ei].

 

3- The right of husband upon wife takes precedence over the rights of all her relatives. In the event of conflict between these rights, give priority to the rights of your husband and you are cleared from liability before Allah. This is because, after Allah and His Messenger, the greatest rights upon wife are the husband`s. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "If I were to order anyone to prostrate himself before another, I would have ordered a woman to prostrate herself before her husband". [At-Tirmidhi graded it as a sound authentic narration, to stress the greatness of his right (The husband on her (The wife].

 

4- It is the right of husband upon wife that she preserves his wealth, so don`t take anything out of his house without his permission. Even if you want to give to charity, from his money, you must ask for his permission, and you will have the same reward as his. However, if you didn`t obtain his permission, then he will be rewarded for that charity, and you will be burdened for the sin.

 

5- Beware of evil female friends and neighbors who seek to sow discord between you and your husband. Such women could lead to the destruction of your family and make your husband hate you.

 

6- Endure the harm of your husband and deal with him wisely when he is in a state of anger for you will reap the fruit of this at the times he is pleased with you. You should bear in mind that pride and obstinacy aggravate problems between you and him, so shun these qualities out and save your family.

 

7- When your husband calls you to his bed, obey him unless you have a lawful excuse for not doing so. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "If a man calls his wife to his bed and she refuses, and thus he spends the night angry with her, the angels continue cursing her till the morning." [Agreed upon].

 

8- It is forbidden to describe the details of a woman`s figure to your husband since the Prophet (PBUH) forbade such an act. As he (PBUH) said: "No woman should touch another woman's body and then describe the details of her figure to her husband in such a manner as if he was looking at her." {Agreed upon}.

 

 

 

Tips to Parents:

 

Dear parents, if you want your children to live happily, take the following pieces of advice into account:

 

1- When a man who doesn`t observe the obligatory prayers proposes to your daughter; turn him down because she is a trust with you. Therefore, it is your duty to choose for her the best husband in terms of righteousness and piety. Thus, the man who abandoned prayer is no match for her because abandoning prayer out of laziness is evil doing and out of denial is disbelief. This is because The Prophet (PBUH) said: "Between a man and disbelief and paganism is the abandonment of Salat (prayer)." [Moslim]. Moreover, Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said: "The covenant between us and them is prayer, so if anyone abandons it he has become an infidel." [Transmitted by Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Nissaee'i and Ibn Majah].

 

2- Interfering in your children`s private life may disturb it, so do that at the right time to make reconciliation and save family from breakdown.

 

3- Corrupting the relation between husband and wife is forbidden since The Prophet (PBUH) said: "He who makes a wife disaffected towards her husband or a slave towards his master is not one of us." [Abu Dawood].

 

 

Article Number [ Previous | Next ]

Read for Author




Comments


Captcha


Warning: this window is not dedicated to receive religious questions, but to comment on topics published for the benefit of the site administrators—and not for publication. We are pleased to receive religious questions in the section "Send Your Question". So we apologize to readers for not answering any questions through this window of "Comments" for the sake of work organization. Thank you.




Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on the prayer of zawal?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended (sunnah) to pray four rakʿāt — either with a single tasleem or as two separate sets of two rakʿāt — immediately following the sun's decline from its zenith (zawāl). This prayer is distinct from the regular Sunnah prayer of Ẓuhr (sunnat al-ẓuhr al-rātibah), as explicitly stated by the Shāfiʿī jurists.
It is mentioned in Nihāyat al-Muḥtāj: "The prayer of zawāl is offered after the sun's decline — so were one to perform it before that, it would not count. It consists of two or four rakʿāt and is distinct from the Sunnah of Ẓuhr, as is evident from the fact that it is mentioned separately after the regular Sunnah prayers, and it becomes a make-up prayer (qaḍāʾ) if a long period of time passes by customary reckoning... Al-ʿAlqamī stated: 'Scholars refer to this as the Sunnah of Zawāl, and it is distinct from the four rakʿāt that constitute the Sunnah of Ẓuhr.' Our shaykh said: Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī stated that among those who explicitly affirmed its recommendation was al-Ghazālī in al-Iḥyāʾ, in the chapter on devotional litanies, noting that there is no tasleem between them — meaning there is no break between each pair of rakʿāt."
The time of the sun's decline (zawāl) marks the very beginning of the time for the Ẓuhr prayer.
And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Is it permissible to offer an Udhiyah on behalf of the deceased?

In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Offering an Udhiyah (sacrificial animal) on behalf of a deceased person is permissible. This is the official position of the Hanbali school (as stated in Kashshaf al-Qina’ by al-Bahuti,Vol.6/P.428) and was also upheld by the prominent Shafi'i scholar Al-’Abbadi (mentioned in Bidayat al-Muhtaj by Ibn Qadi Shuhbah,Vol. 4/P.358). It has likewise been narrated as a valid view among some Maliki and Hanafi scholars.
 
In fact, Imam Abu Dawud dedicated an entire chapter in his Sunan collection entitled, "Chapter on Sacrificing on Behalf of the Deceased." In it, he recorded a narration from Hanash, who said: "I saw 'Ali sacrificing two rams, so I asked him, 'What is this?' He replied, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded me to offer a sacrifice on his behalf, so I am sacrificing on his behalf.'"
 
Imam Abu Dawud also narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, this is from You, for You, and on behalf of Muhammad and his Ummah (community). In the Name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest," and he then slaughtered the animal.
 
The textual evidence here lies in the fact that our Master, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), offered a sacrifice on behalf of his entire community—and it is well-established that his community includes those who have already passed away.
 
Furthermore, there is an abundance of sacred texts demonstrating that the rewards of righteous deeds reach the deceased. For instance, it is permissible to fast on behalf of a deceased person who passed away with missed obligatory fasts, and it is equally permissible to perform Hajj on their behalf, both of which are firmly established in authentic Hadiths. Therefore, if the reward of fasting (which is a purely physical act of worship) and Hajj (which is a joint physical and financial act of worship) can reach the deceased, then the reward of an Udhiyah reaches them with greater reason (by way of A Fortiori argument). This is because it is a purely financial act of worship, falling under the general category of charity (Sadaqah).
 
Additionally, scholars have reached a consensus (Ijma') that the rewards of charity reach the deceased, and since the Udhiyah is inherently an act of charity, it falls under the same ruling. Consequently, based on all the aforementioned evidence, we hold the view that offering a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased is entirely permissible. And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.

My father has debts and asked me to repay them years ago, and I promised him I would do so upon his death — is it permissible for me to go back on my promise given that I am unable to repay them, especially since he refuses to contribute to repayment on the grounds that the debt has become my responsibility by virtue of my promise?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The established principle is that a father's debt is to be repaid from his own wealth, if he possesses sufficient means. As for the promise made by the son to repay it on his father's behalf, fulfilling such a promise is strongly recommended, and breaking it is considerably disliked. Shaykh al-Islām Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Fulfilling a promise is emphatically recommended, and breaking it is severely disliked. The evidences for this from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah are well known." [Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn,Vol. 2/P.278] Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, further states: "The reason fulfilling a promise is not obligatory and breaking it is not forbidden is that a promise is in the nature of a gift, and a gift does not become binding except upon receipt." [Asnā al-Maṭālib fī Sharḥ Rawḍ al-Ṭālib,Vol. 2/P.487]
Given that the son does not possess the financial means to fulfil his promise to his father, breaking this promise falls beyond his capacity — and Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear. Since the father himself possesses sufficient wealth to settle his own debt, repayment must be made from his own funds. Should he pass away before doing so, the debt is to be settled from his estate. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the wisdom behind the legislation of fasting?

Fasting is a divine school from which the believer learns much and trains in virtues that may be needed in life. Among these virtues is patience, as it is the month of patience. Fasting also teaches honesty and consciousness of Allah in both private and public, for there is no observer over the fasting person in abstaining from lawful pleasures except Allah alone.
Fasting strengthens willpower, sharpens determination, and nurtures mercy and compassion among the servants of Allah. It is a struggle against the self, a restraint of desires, a purification of the soul, and a cultivation of goodness.
The Prophetﷺ said: "Allah, the Almighty, said: ‘Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except for fasting; it is for Me, and I shall reward for it. Fasting is a shield. So when one of you is fasting on a day, let him not engage in obscene speech or raise his voice in anger. If someone insults him or fights him, let him say: I am a fasting person. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the breath of the fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the fragrance of musk.’" [Bukhari and Muslim]
 

See More