Letters to the Editor
Q: I have been reading YMD for a couple of years and find it very informative. My family and I, particularly enjoy and learn from the “Questions & Answers” section as it handles most contemporary issues that the Muslims are facing in India and abroad. I would request you to clarify the matter of wearing Taveez. Even if you have mentioned this issue in previous articles, please clarify this matter once more.
YMD
There is a hadith of the Prophet which says, “Whoever hung something, is bound up to that thing.” The hadith lends several meanings. One is: whosoever hung an amulet to himself, to another, or to an animal, etc., has his destiny depending on it.
Another meaning is that the likely psychological effect on such a person would be that he would begin to depend on that thing, rather than 
on Allah (swt). Now, to depend on other than Allah (swt), is, a kind of association with Him (shirk), since all powers rest with Allah (swt), and nothing happens in the universe without His will and approval.
Therefore, most scholars have disapproved of amulets, strings worn in the neck, on the hand, etc.
Q: Some Taveez have parts of the Holy Qur’an in them, while others have Ganj-al-Arsh or any other non-Qur’anic verses. Is there a difference between the validity of these?
YMD
Since amulets themselves have a question mark on them, what is written inside will have a similar question mark. However, if there are words of disbelief, or of association with Allah (swt), then, wearing such amulets would be outright impermissible.
Even those who allow, even though half-heartedly, will unhesitatingly say that wearing anything that has words of disbelief, or material from other religious or non-religious scriptures, is unlawful without a second opinion.
Q: Ganj-al-Arsh is supposed to be verses from Allah’s chair, it is not mentioned in the Qur’an but it is mentioned there in Hadith. Is this true?
YMD
This is a lie and a great sin for those who fasten lies upon Allah (swt) and His Messenger. There is no such thing in the Hadith. To be sure, there is not even a fabricated report to this effect. The so-called Ganj-al-`Arshis an invention dating several centuries after the Prophet. How can it be in the Hadith literature?
Q: Some Taveez are made by ‘special holy men,’ while others are made at home (with black clothes, threads and wax). Is there a difference? Can either be used?
YMD
The so-called holy men are hoaxes. They are equivalent of the priestly class in other religions who live on the earnings of the common people. They and the material they offer should be avoided as you would avoid a piece of burning coal on your palm.
Q: Did Prophet Muhammad (saws) do this or advise this practice to his companions or anybody? If there is a form of Taveez that can be used by Muslims, please define the criteria and types, if any.
YMD
No, the Prophet never advised anyone to wear a Ta’weedh (amulet).
Further, there is no need for the Muslims to wear Ta`weedh. A good, practicing Muslim is protected by angels and Allah’s unseen forces. He is further protected by reciting the various supplications that the Prophet recommended for various occasions. One of his hadith says, “Whoever recited (the following) morning and evening is protected from all evils: ‘In the name of One Allah, with whose Name nothing harms in the earth nor in the heavens, and who is the Hearer, the Knower.’”
That is, all that one requires to do, to save himself from the evils of the earth and the heavens, is to say the above words, in full belief, once in the morning, and once in the evening. But, let us say someone doesn’t do his five daily Prayers. Then there is no supplication, and no amulet that can save him from evils.
Q: And, one more doubt, the Imam prays and leads the congregational prayers from a recess or small room at the front of the mosque. Is there anything special in making Dua’ from here or it does not make any difference, our Dua’s carry the same weight whether in the mosque or in the house? Are there any special ‘places’ from where to make Dua’?
YMD
Supplications after Prayers is not the Sunnah of the Prophet. He did not make supplication, after the Prayers, in congregation, as is done by the Imam in many parts of the world today.
As for which is the best place for supplications, the answer is, there is no special place for making supplications, except, of course, the Sha’aa’ir-Allah (the holy sites in Makkah).
However, there are special times when supplications are more likely to be heard and answered, such as, after a good deed, after charity, during the last third part of the night, after ‘Asr Prayers until Maghrib, between Adhan and Iqamah, in the battle-field, etc.
Q: Many people say that there are around two million Ahadith and only a scholar who has studied ‘all’ of these can comment on the Islamic validity of Taveez, Ganj-al-Arsh and places for Duas.
Syed K.,
On Email
YMD
This is a clever Satanic ploy to gain legitimacy for wrongful deeds in the name of Islam. The number of ahadith does not go to two million. Depending on how you count, (whether or not variations in the wordings, or in the narrators, will be left out), there are no more than 100,000 trustworthy ahadith, no matter how you count. And, there are many people around who know all of them.
That is, when a hadith is mentioned before them, they can say with quite some certainty whether it is a Prophetic statement or not. Indeed, there are scholars who can do a little more than that. When offered a report, they can even say if it is trustworthy or not. In other words, not only they know the trustworthy reports, but also untrustworthy ones.
Nevertheless, in our times, we need not depend on such scholars, especially when the thriving, professional priestly class of Islam, has planted doubts about the trustworthy scholars. Anyone, therefore, who does not trust the Hadith scholars, can easily look into the written works and search for the ahadith about Ganj al-`Arsh and other such reports.
In fact, the task has now become much easier. There are Hadith computer programs that have recorded every single hadith work in the 
electronic media. One of them, produced by Al-`Arees, is so big, (since it include every book of Hadith, and more), that it comes in three CDs.
In addition there are Internet sites that offer ahadith collections. For e.g., an Internet site called “Al-Muhaddith” has every thinkable Hadith book posted on its site, which can be downloaded by anyone, at no cost, with the click of a mouse: all he needs is good space in his hard disk.
But, the problem is, neither those who claim that there are two million ahadith, nor those who believe in their statements, can make use of these computer programs or Internet sites. Why? Because they do not know the Arabic language.
Even the so-called top class holy men, the chief of chiefs, hardly know enough Arabic to be able to understand a hadith wholly, if offered in Arabic. It is another thing that they cleverly hide this fact from the masses, and act as if they are experts in the Arabic language. But the scholars know where they stand.
Instead of making false claims of the sort they make, should they not post the collection of those ahadith on the Internet? After all, are they not operating several Internet sites, where they can post the ahadith you have mentioned?
Interestingly, several Internet sites that are owned by the people in question, do not have a single hadith book posted on their site. Any explanation from the lovers of the Prophet?
Q: I will always be indebted to you for keeping me away from Bid’a and Shirk and all the evils in our society. YMD has helped me immensely in following right beliefs. I have some doubts regarding the following points. This will be of great help for me if you clear my doubts.
Is there any mention of Du’a Yaseen being recited after Surah Yaseen in Prophet’s (saws) traditions?
YMD
There is no hadith which recommends a particular Du`a to be recited after Surah Yasin, or any other Surah, or even after the recitation of the Qur’an.
Q: Are references cited pertaining to Ahadnama?
YMD
We do not know what this Ahadnama is.
Q: Will ablution be still valid after clipping nails, trimming moustache or beard?
YMD
No, ablution would be nullified.
Q: Is it necessary to change place after Fard prayers?
YMD
It is not absolutely necessary to change places after the termination of obligatory Prayers. It is only preferable. However, more preferable is to do the Sunnah at home which was the practice of the Prophet and his Companions.
Q: Can dua’ be made after each Sunnah and Nafil prayers – or only after Fard prayers?
YMD
Supplications can be made at any time, especially after every good act. Therefore, they can be made after the obligatory Prayers, as well as after every Sunnah or Nafil Prayers.
However, the recommended way would be not to spend a lot of time in supplications, especially if it is at the cost of recitation of the Qur’an, or study of Hadith, etc. One may – especially if he is young – devote more time to study of religious texts than he would to supplications. But, if someone is already devoted to studies, and still has time to make frequent and long supplications, then he might do it.
Q: Can we start ablution after Adhan has started?
YMD
Yes, why not?
Q: Can we answer to Adhan while making ablution?
YMD
Yes, you can.
Q: Should we also say Darud while replying to Adhan’s ‘Ashhaduanna Muhammad arRasoolullah?’
YMD
The Sunnah is to repeat the adhan words with the muedhdhin. Nevertheless, there is nothing wrong in reciting the peace formula, after the words of the muedhdhin, “I bear witness that Muhammad is a Messenger of Allah.”
Q: Is dua’ after Fard Salah with Imam in congregation Bid`ah?
YMD
Muhammad Shafi` Deobandi, the former Hanafiyy Mufti of Pakistan has written in his ‘Jawahirul Fiqh’ that the Prophet did not make congregational supplication after the obligatory Prayers with the Companions behind saying, ‘Aameen.’
The Prophet used to turn to the congregation facing them, after his Salam. He stayed for a while doing his personal adhkaar, saying supplicatory words, and then got up and went home. He did not even supplicate for himself with raised hands after the Prayers.
Q: YMD is an interesting magazine. You answer questions pertaining to Islam. I would like you to answer the following questions regarding Talaq. I was married three years ago. My husband started ill-treating me. After one year a son was born to me.
When my son was five months old, following the ill-treatment of my husband, I left his house and came to my parents’ house. No step was taken for the reconciliation. After three months, he sent me Talaq papers stating that he had divorced me by way of ‘Biddat‘ saying three Talaq in one sitting and signing the papers. His two witnesses were present and they also signed. Nor myself, nor my relatives, nor Qaziwas present there at that moment.
Already one year and eight months have passed since then. My husband goes on telling people that he has divorced me. But I want to go back to him now.
YMD
Yours, indeed, is a sad story. It saddens more because such incidents of separation are on the rise everywhere. This means a good workable solution to the new social problem is not on the cards.
Far from how the problem itself – (of separation) – as to how it can go away, modern society, which has created this problem, has no solution whatsoever to offer to those who are already suffering.
The Islamic solution of a second wife, for those who can afford, is unacceptable to everyone concerned. Alright. But when you ask, “what’s the alternative?” – you are greeted with silence.
With time, such cases are bound to pile up in numbers, leading to a variety of evils. At the moment, these evils are lying low, waiting for people to get busy with other affairs. When that happens, and people get used to this present situation, those evils will appear, first stealthily, and then openly, by which time they would have taken good root.
Subsequently, the society will end up with other unsolvable problems. Anyone who knows the history of social development and changes in the Western world, knows the cycle, and knows what is likely to come next, as the cycle rolls on.
So, it is a sad story.
However, in your case, you seem to have left your husband, without perhaps telling him what you intended to do, whether you would go back or not. As you say, no steps were taken for reconciliation either. So, he presumed that you didn’t wish to go back to him and took the step that he took.
Now, we are not absolving him of that step. It was a wrong and hasty step. He should have sought to sit down with you and discuss all aspects of the issue and taken a joint decision with you and the relatives of both sides. But, apparently, that was not done.
Islamically, to divorce you, he didn’t need a Qadi,nor the witnesses, nor your approval. After all, in terms of money, he was the loser. However, by adding witnesses, he made it worse. Those were evil people who bore witness to an evil act. And, as a final nail in the coffin, he wrote down three Talaqs.
Now, both of you are in a hopeless situation. So far as you both getting together is concerned, by Islamic law this is not possible. That can only happen if you marry another man and he divorces you by his free will.
A ray of hope consists in your former husband revoking the Talaq, if originally he said or wrote in anger. He might go to a Mufti, explain to him what happened, and admit that he did it out of anger and in a state in which he was not in his senses. But, of course, that is only possible, if that truly happens to be the case. That is, if he genuinely feels that, that is how it happened.
Q: My child is two years, three months, old now. He is deprived of fatherly love.
YMD
Why should the child be deprived of the fatherly love? The child, although in your custody, remains yours as well as his father’s progeny. The father should visit his son as frequently as possible.
Later, as the son grows and learns the way up and down, he can also visit him. In the meanwhile, his father should pay all costs of his maintenance, until he is able to economically support himself, after puberty.
Q: I have become a burden on my parents.
YMD
A child can never be a burden on her or his parents.
Further, several things have gone wrong resulting in this present situation and your parents are as much responsible for this situation as you are. For e.g., as soon as you arrived home from the husband, it was for them to rush out and work at reconciliation. If they didn’t, they hold the responsibility for it.
If they were then influenced by your adamancy, then too they are to be blamed for accepting the influence of an inexperienced person and letting her do what she wished to do. They, being experienced, should have prevailed on you rather than you on them.
We do not know who made the choice of the husband for you. Assuming that you did, they are still responsible, to an extent, for having allowed you to make a choice and then break off the relationship. In all these affairs, it is the experienced parents who should come to the rescue of the younger ones.
Again, what kind of education did they give you that led you to make hasty decisions? Did they ever teach you about the problems you might face in married life? Did they tell you that if you remain a practicing Muslim, you are less likely to encounter such crisis? Did they 
tell you that when faced up with problems of ill-treatment, as a Muslim you are to respond with patience with good hope in Allah (swt) to solve your problem? In short, your parents do hold some responsibility for what has happened.
Therefore, they should gracefully accept their responsibility, acknowledge their failure to do things that perhaps they didn’t, and guide you now through this crisis, rather than consider you a burden.
Finally, how can you be a burden when the Prophet has said that “The food for two is enough for three, the food for three is enough for four?” When your parents eat, you can join in as the third and the food of the two should be sufficient for the three, if you all believe in Allah (swt) and the words of the Prophet.
Yes, they might feel sorry that you are not in a satisfactory situation, and regretful, but, the question of burden does not arise? Haven’t they been promised Paradise for looking after you?
Again, you may have your problems, but for your parents, you are a kind of blessing so long as you are with them. For, you will be doing household work at home and offer relief to the aging souls. We don’t see why they shouldn’t be happy about this.
Yes, they might be a bit worried about you. But, that would be on your behalf. However, if you yourself take it spiritedly, then, they will be less melancholic.
Q: Please answer all my questions. My entire life depends upon your answers. Please spare some time from your busy schedule and answer me in detail.
XYZ,
On Email
YMD
Well, your life neither depends on our answers, nor on anyone else’s answers. After Allah (swt), who is Most Kind upon those who turn to Him, your life is in your own hands. You can make of it, what you wish to make.
Naturally, first of all, [after you turn to Allah (swt) in penitence] you need to restore confidence in yourself. Why should your life hinge on a single person: your former husband? Let us assume you cannot go back to him. So what? Allah (swt) said (4: 130), “But if the two (husband and wife) separate, Allah will enrich each of them from His bounty. Allah is Ever Encompassing, Ever Wise.” He also said (65: 2), “And whoever feared Allah, He will show him a way out.” So, Allah (swt) will show you the way out.
What you need to do at your level, to restore your confidence in yourself, is to say to yourself that what was in the past is, hereby, consigned to the past. As for future, you will make a fresh start.
We do not know what your education has been. You could, for e.g., go for higher education. That will keep you busy, and open gates of opportunity. If you are already well-qualified, you might take up an employment and offer your parents economic help. After a while you could get married too.
On the religious side too, it is time you did some serious things. A study of the Qur’an and Sunnah should be launched. The study itself will afford such inward peace that the worries of the world would be reduced in their intensity.
You may also take up teaching of young boys and girls of your neighborhood. To educate them in Islam would be another source of joy and peace of mind. Such interaction, and the impression that you are a productive woman, is very likely to bring you proposals of marriage. If that happens, it would certainly prove to be a more successful one because you would have been chosen for a good reason.
We have only hinted at some of the things that you could do. There are several things that a free person can do to serve the society, the individuals, and one’s own self, resulting in a sense of completion and achievement. These are priceless values by themselves.
Q: I’m a student & regular reader of YMD. I am really happy to see your efforts in YMD. I want to ask: What is the meaning of Naznin?
YMD
The root of this word is Persian and means, roughly, in classical Persian: “One who is finicky.” In modern Persian it means, “A delicate one,” or “Subtle” and the like; but certainly not “the gorgeous one.”
Q: What does Islam say about education of girls, i.e. women’s education?
Naznin I. Dawjee,
On Email
YMD
It is obligatory upon every Muslim, male or female, to obtain as much knowledge of Islam as necessary to lead an Islamically sound life. Parents are obliged to impart this amount of education, and questionable in the Hereafter for not doing so.
As for secular education, it is neither obligatory on a Muslim to gain secular knowledge, nor on parents to impart it. The parents might at best prepare their offspring for their adult life when they will have to bear responsibilities and face various challenges. Although, admittedly, such “preparation” is not exactly “wajib” on the parents, it is best they gave attention to it, after the religious education, or parallel to it – in view of the difficulties that the present life imposes to the secularly uneducated.
The parents must also arrange for a parallel Islamic education, to counter the ill-effects of modern secular religion. If parents choose to educate their children on secular lines, then this counter education becomes wajib on them and they are questionable in the Hereafter for not doing so.
Parenting in Islam means much more than feeding the children and teaching them how to earn money.
The branch of secular education to be chosen for a young man or woman would depend on the family, its means, the inborn abilities, inclinations, the social surrounding, and the aims and objectives of the life in general.
It is not at all necessary that every child should become an Engineer, Doctor or Computer Programmer. Indeed, it is not necessary that every child should take up one of the professional courses. Where inclination is lacking in the youth, the change to the more acceptable course should be swiftly made.
It is in this area of “secular” education that the differences between boys and girls arise. In Islam, men and women play different roles and they should both be accordingly prepared. The courses that suit boys, do not suit girls. Not because what males can do females cannot; but because their roles in life are differently assigned, and the secular education must prepare the individuals for the respective roles.
Just like in other matters, in education too, female children of a Muslim have the same rights as males – but to a point. Males are required to be the bread earners. Therefore, not only the kind of education for boys will be different from that of the girls, but also the period of education. If the means do not allow a Muslim to give similar lengths of education to all his children, then, the male children may receive preference over the female.
But there is a third kind of education: knowledge in general and in particular Islamic. That is, knowledge beyond the basics to help lead an Islamic life viz., knowledge of the Hereafter, of the Islamic values, of the ways to enjoin virtues and prohibit the evil, etc. There are no rules binding anyone, neither the parents, nor the children, about receiving or imparting such knowledge. This education should be carried on, vigorously, until death – both by men as well as women, whether rich or poor, whether supported by parents or not supported.
Yet, parents may offer equal support to their children for this kind of education such as, providing the necessary books, arranging for specialist teachers, admission into specialist colleges or institutions, etc. This is where the true equality of sexes lies. It is also the basis of one individual’s superiority over another.
The West has a crude way of life. The richer is the more respected. Not in Islam. Here it is the virtuous and knowledgeable who draw greater respect. This is the true equality of sexes, and not degrees from colleges which have no knowledge function, but are aides for earning money.
Q: I want to know the proper and correct way of saying Salaam. Our elders ask us to bend down in front of aged relatives while greeting them.
Syeda Humera,
On Email
YMD
It is not necessary at all to bend down in front of aged relatives, scholars, or, the Mashaa’ikh, or anyone else. It is enough to say Al-salamualaykum. In addition, as a mark of respect, the young ones may kiss the forehead of the aged one, or a scholar, or Sheikh.
Children may kiss the hands of the elders, or, elders kiss their hands and foreheads. But, bending down is undesirable, as also is undesirable the act of shoving one’s head into another’s stomach, a practice common among some Peer-Mureed systems.
Q: I have been a regular reader of your magazine and find it very informative and interesting as it also covers the contemporary issues revolving around Islam and its followers. I have a personal query. I am married since three years but childless. I have been advised artificial insemination. Now, what does Islam say about in vitro fertilization of a woman with the husband as the donor?
Anonymous,
On Email
YMD
In vitro fertilization is allowed provided the medical personnel involved are trustworthy. But, we believe you might not resort to this method as early as this. You might wait for a while, seek Allah’s help, and save the extraordinary costs involved, with no guarantees of success in the first try.
Q: My question is: If our Allah is One, our Qur’an is one, our Prophet is one, then why we have been divided in to maslaks?
Salim Lone Jahangir,
On Email
YMD
You are correct. There is no ground for any division in Islam. But is there a division on the grounds of maslaks? Do you see that around you? E.g., 90% of Muslims in India are Hanafis. Are they united or divided? If disunited, is maslak the cause? Isn’t the fact that they are disunited on every front? If they are united anywhere at all, it is over the Hanafiyy maslak. That is, the Hanafiyy maslak unites them: they all claim adherence to it, and never hold an opinion in Shari`ah matters other than that of the Hanafiyy maslak.
When you find somebody breaking a Shari`ah rule, all you have to do is to remind him that he is breaking away from the Hanafiyy maslak, and he backs off. If you wish to get people together in India, you better not assemble them in the name of politics, or social problems, or educational or material development, etc. The only time they will respond whole-heartedly is when you assemble them over Hanafiyy maslak. The same applies to the Shafe`iyyah in Egypt, or Malikiyyah in North Africa. So, the masaalik are a uniting factor and not divisionary.
Nor are these countries disunited because of maslaks. For example, the Egyptian and other African countries are not divided because of the differences in maslaks. There are political reasons why they divided themselves after they were one under the `Uthmani Khilafah.
Those who are trying to introduce a new maslak are basing their propagation strategy on a lie. This is the primary reason why they have failed miserably over the time. And this is not the only lie on which they depend. They depend on a pack of them to which applies what they say in Arabic and which has the meaning: “A true word with which falsehood is intended.”
The Ummah is not deceived by these lies, and has strongly rejected these fresh efforts to divide it. It stands united over such issues as, for example, the occupation of Iraq where Pakistanis, Afghanis, Turks, Indonesians, Gulf Arabs, Yemenis, Sudanese, Egyptians, Palestinians, Jordanians, Syrians, Kurds and even youths from Europe – of all the four maslaks, plus the Ahl al-Hadith (except the Shi`ah) – are fighting shoulder to shoulder against a common enemy: oil thieves and coward crusaders.
