Selected  translations  from 

'Majmu' al-Fatawa' 

 
In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

In the ​fatawa ​of the ​Lajnah ad-Da'imah​, they say the following:

"...it is a book that is great in significance, full of benefits, and covers many issues and
discussions that are useful in the life of the human being, as well as his Hereafter. So, it is a
comprehensive scientific collection that covers all fields of knowledge, whether that be in
the area of ​'Aqidah,​ ​Tawhid​, ​Fiqh​, ​Usul​, ​Hadith​, ​Tafsir​, astronomy, logic and debate,
knowledge of various sects and denominations, medicine, the Arabic language, geography,
history, spirituality, and much more.

So, this is a book that is great in status and mighty in importance. Allah clarified the truth
with it, and swept away much of the doubts of the misguided and innovations of the
deviants from the straight path. The author - may Allah have Mercy upon him - wrought
havoc upon the people of falsehood with his textual and logical proofs, and has refuted
them to the very core of their own ​madhahib​, as he was more knowledgeable in the
madhahib ​of the people of falsehood than they were! So, he brought out the proofs, swept
away the doubts, and gave victory to the ​madhhab ​of the ​Salaf​. He clarified the reality of
this Religion and its beliefs, as well as the compatability of sound logic to the authentic
texts. This was all done in the most eloquent manner and clarity.

So, whoever reads this great book will - if Allah Wills - come out with an intellect that is safe
from doubts and misguidance, firm opinion, and great knowledge that he can benefit from
and benefit others with..."

[​'Fatawa al-Lajnah ad-Da'imah​'; 12/125-127]

Q: A Muslim man peforms an action that causes a palace to be built for him in
Paradise, and that a tree is planted in Paradise with his name on it, etc. Then, he
performs sins that make Hell obligatory for him. So, if he enters Hell, how can it be
that he is supposed to be in Paradise while he is in Hell?
A: If he repents from his sins in a sincere way, Allah will forgive him, and will not prevent
him from what He has Promised him. Rather, He will give this to him.

If he doesn't repent, his good deeds will be weighed against his bad deeds. If they are
heavier than his bad deeds, he will receive the reward. If his bad deeds outweigh his good
deeds, he will receive the punishment, and whatever was prepared for him of reward will be
nullified due to his sins that outweighed his good deeds. Likewise, if he performs bad deeds
that make him deserving of Hell, and followed them up with good actions, his bad deeds will
be wiped away.

And Allah Knows best.

[4/160]

The More Humble You Are Before Allah, The More Honorable You Are Before the
Creation:

"...And the slave - the more humble, needy, and subdued he is before Allah - the closer he
will be to Him, and the dearer he will be to Him, and the greater in status he will be to Him.
So, the happiest of the Creation is the one who is greatest in servitude to Allah.

As for the Creation, as it is said: be in need of whoever you wish, and you will be his
prisoner; be sufficient from whoever you wish, and you will be his adversary; be kind to
whoever you wish, and you will be his authority...

So, the greatest in status and honor the slave is with others is when he is not in need of
them in any way, shape, or form. If you are good to others while not being in need of them,
you will be greater in their eyes. When you are in need of them - even if for a sip of water -
your status is reduced in their eyes in accordance with what it is you need from them. And
this is from the Wisdom and Mercy of Allah, in order that the Religion all be for Allah, and
that nothing be associated with Him.

Because of this, when Hatim al-Asamm was asked: 'With what can one protect himself from
people?' he answered: "That you freely give them from what you have, and that you are
cold and indifferent towards what they have." However, if you are in a position to be
compensated from them, and they are also in need of something from you, and the needs
of the two sides become equal, you become like two merchants, none of whom has any
virtue over the other. If they are the more needy side, that is when they will become
subdued.

So, with the Exalted Lord, the most generous you are to Him is when you are most in need
of Him. With the Creation, the most insignificant you are to them is when you are most in
need of them..."

[1/67]

Q: Will the disbelievers be given an accounting on the Day of Resurrection?

A: This is an issue that is a point of dispute for the later Hambali scholars and others.

So, from those who said that they will not be given an accounting for their deeds are Abu
Bakr 'Abd al-'Aziz, Abu al-Hasan at-Tamimi, ​al-Qadi ​Abu Ya'la, and others.

From those who said that they will be given an accounting include Abu Hafs al-Barmiki
(from the companions of Ahmad), Abu Sulayman ad-Dimashqi, and Abu Talib al-Makki.

And the final word is this:

The term 'account' can be used to mean either that their actions will be laid out in front of
them, or that their good deeds will be weighed against their bad deeds.

So, if the first meaning is what is intended, there is no doubt that they will be taken to
account in this manner. If the second meaning is what is intended - that the disbelievers
could have good deeds left over that make them deserving of Paradise - this is a clear error
in understanding.

And if it is meant that they vary in their levels of punishment, then it is the case that the
punishment of the one with more bad deeds is more severe than the one whose bad deeds
are few, and the one with good deeds will have his punishment lightened, just as the
punishment of Abu Talib is lighter than that of Abu Lahab. And Allah Said: {​"As for those
who disbelieve and mislead others from the Path of Allah, We increased them in
punishment over their punishment..."​} [​an-Nahl;​ 88] and: {​"The postponing of a
Sacred Month is an increase in disbelief..."} ​ [​at-Tawbah;​ 37]

And Hell is of various levels. So, if the punishment of some of the disbelievers is more
severe than others due to an abundance of bad deeds and lack of good deeds, the
Accounting will be for the purpose of making evident these various levels of punishment,
and not for the purpose of entering them into Paradise.

[4/159-160]

Q: What should one do who has been stricken by an arrow from the poisonous
arrows of Iblis (i.e. has been affected by a member of the opposite gender)?

A: Whoever has a poisonous injury, it is upon him to proceed with that which will remove
the poison from his wound, and cleanse it.

This is acheived by a number of steps:

First, such a person should get married or purchase a slave-woman, as the Prophet said:
"If one of you looks to the charms of a woman, he should go to his wife, as she
will have what is with the other woman." ​This will result in a reduction of one's desire,
as well as weakening of one's passion.

Second, one should remain firm and constant in the five daily prayers, supplication, and
humble worship in the early morning hours. One should perform their prayers with
concentration and presence of heart, and increase in the supplication: 'O Controller of the
hearts, make my heart firm upon Your Religion! O Mover of the hearts, move my heart
towards obedience to You and Your Messenger!' This is because when one is firm upon
supplicating to Allah and being humble before Him, He will automatically push his heart
away from such matters, as He Said: {​"Thus it was, that We might turn away from
him evil and indecent acts. Surely, he was one of Our chosen, guided slaves."​}
[​Yusuf;​ 24]

Third, one should remove himself from any place in which the person who has affected him
might be, and should not socialize with those whom this person socializes with, such that he
will not hear any mention of this person, nor be able to lay his eyes on them. Distance leads
to abandonment, and as much as the thought of something is reduced, its effect on the
heart will also be weakened.

So, one should implement these steps, and he should improve with the resultant changes
that occur to his condition.

And Allah Knows best.

[32/5]

Q: Is it better for one to seclude himself from the people, or to mix with them?

A: This issue - even though the people have differed over it, either partially or entirely - the
reality of it is that mixing with the people is sometimes obligatory or recommended. The
same individual can sometimes be commanded to mix with others, and can at other times
be commanded to seclude himself.

Mixing, if it involves cooperation upon good and piety, is obligatory, and if it involves
cooperation upon sin and transgression, is forbidden. Mixing with the Muslims for the
purpose of congregational acts of worship, such as the five prayers, the Friday prayer, the
'Eid prayer, the eclipse prayer, the prayer for rain (​istisqa')​ , etc., is from what Allah and His
Messenger commanded...

...likewise, a gathering in which the worshipper can increase his faith - either because of it
benefiting him, or his being of benefit to it - is of the same category.

However, a person must have time by himself to engage in supplication, remembrance,

prayer, reflection, taking himself to account, and recitifying his heart. These are issues that
nobody else can participate with him in, and these are affairs that need to be seen to on an
individual basis, whether that be at home or otherwise, as Tawus said: "How excellent of a
refuge is the home! In it, one can restrain his gaze and his tongue."

So, choosing to mix with people unrestrictedly is wrong, and choosing to seclude yourself
from people unrestrictedly is wrong.

[10/218]
Issues Regarding Supplicating In the Prayer:

"...and what is commonly narrated from Ahmad is that one should not supplicate in the
prayer except with those supplications that are specifically legislated and narrated from the
Prophet, as al-Athram said:

"I asked Ahmad: "With what should I supplicate after the ​tashahhud? ​ " So, Ahmad said:
"With what is narrated." So, I said to him: "Did the Messenger of Allah not say: ​"...then let
him choose from the supplications whatever he wishes..."​?" Ahmad said: "He chooses
from the narrated supplications whatever he wishes,"" - and this is the meaning of the
words of Ahmad.

And I have previously clarified some of the principles regarding this, because of His Saying:
{​"Verily, Allah does not love the transgressors..."} ​ [​al-A'raf;​ 55], and because not all
forms supplication are allowed. Rather, from the supplications are those that constitute
excessiveness and transgression, and are forbidden, and the supplications which are
legislated contain no transgression. Transgression in supplication can sometimes be in the
form of excessive wording, and can sometimes be in regards to the meaning, just as one of
the Companions explained to his son when some said: 'O Allah! I ask You for a white palace
in the right section of Paradise if I enter it,' and another said: 'I ask You for the Paradise, its
palaces, and its rivers, and I seek refuge with You from the Fire, its chains, and its
shackles.' So, the man said to his son: "My son! Just ask Allah for Paradise, and seek refuge
with Him from the Fire, as I heard the Messenger of Allah say: ​"There will be in this
nation those who are excessive in supplication and purification."​"

And transgression can occur in regards to worship and ​zuhd​, and the statement of Ahmad
regarding limiting oneself to the narrated supplications is a good one, as the point is to
make a supplication that is loved by Allah, not just supplicating for the sake of supplicating,
as from the supplications are those that are forbidden.

So, if it is said that the supplications that are allowed outside of prayer are also allowed
during the prayer - such as one asking for a house, or a beautiful slave girl - it is then
asked: who even said that such types of supplications are legislated outside of the prayer,
and that such wordings do not constitute transgression and excessiveness? Here, it should
be said that the supplication that is ​mustahabb i​ s that which is legislated, as ​istihbab ​of a
particular act is determined by the Legislator. So, whatever He has not specifically legislated
is not ​mustahabb.​ Rather, it constitutes legislating in the Religion that which Allah did not
allow, and supplication is the greatest aspect of this religion.

However, if one supplicates with something that he does not know is ​mustahabb​, or knows
that it is allowed without being ​mustahabb​, his prayer is not invalidated due to this, as
prayer is invalidated due to the speech of the people, and supplication is not from the
speech of the people. Rather, it is just as if one were to praise Allah in a wording that was
not specifically legislated, and this was reported from some of the Companions during the
time of the Prophet, and he did not reprimand them for praising Allah in a manner that was
not legislated at that time. Rather, one would only be deprived of the reward if they were to
supplicate like this.
And from the supplication is that which is ​makruh ​without invalidating the prayer, as well as
that which would invalidate the prayer, and supplications can be divided into five types:

- those that are legislated, and these include the ​wajib a

​ nd ​mustahabb​;
- those that are ​mubah (​ allowed) and are not ​mustahabb​, and these do not invalidate the
prayer;
- those that are ​makruh,​ and these do not invalidate the prayer, and are like if one were to
turn his face in the prayer, say the ​tashahhud ​during the standing, or recite the Qur'an
during the sitting;
- those that are forbidden, and these invalidate the prayer, as they are considered to be
human speech;

So, this is an analysis of the statement of Ahmad, as the prayer is not invalidated by
making a supplication that is not narrated from the Prophet. However, it is not ​mustahabb
to do so, as nothing can be ​mustahabb t​ hat is not legislated. He also clarified that the
choice given is from those supplications that are legislated, and that the legislated
supplications can be in the form of the exact wording, or they can be in the form of the
general meaning, provided that the Prophet did not restrict the supplication to just one
wording, as in the case of the Qur'an."

[22/231-232]

What to Do With A Text That You Aren't Sure Should Be Acted Upon:

"Whoever is sure of the authenticity of a text, yet is unaware of anyone using it as a proof,
and he does not know whether or not there is consensus that other texts contradict it, such
a situation is the same as if one were to see one evidence contradicted by another, while he
does not know which of the two takes precedence. Such a person should refrain from acting
upon this evidence until the precedence of either of them is made clear to him. So, he
should not speak without knowledge, and he should not apply a text while he is equally
unsure as to whether it is/isn't abrogated due to the presence of a contradicting text or
ijma'​. The same goes for when he comes across a general text that he is equally unsure
is/isn't made more specific by another text.

So, it is a must that the evidence being used be free of any considerable opposing factors,
such that it becomes certain that this evidence takes precedence over any opposing factors.
Otherwise, he is to refrain from acting upon this evidence."

[19/126]

The Superiority Of the Muslims Over the Jews and Christians:

"So, it is known that those who transmitted what Muhammad called to of the Religion and
Shari'ah,​ and transmitted what he came with of signs and miracles, are greater than those
who transmitted the likes of these from Musa and 'Isa. Likewise, what he came with of
these are, in and of themselves, greater than what Musa and 'Isa came with. In fact, the
one who looks with a sound mind in these times to what the Muslims have of beneficial
knowledge and righteous actions, and compares that to what is with the Jews and
Christians, will come to know that there is a huge, massive difference between them.

This is because that which is with the Muslims of the ​Tawhid o ​ f Allah, knowledge of His
Names and Attributes, His Angels, Prophets, Messengers, the Hereafter, the descriptions of
the Paradise and Hell, reward and punishment, promise and threat - all of these are much
greater and loftier than that which is with the Jews and Christians, and this is clear to any
who look into it.

And that which is with the Muslims of outer and inner acts of worship - such as the five daily
prayers, the other prayers, the remembrances and supplications, etc. - are greater and
loftier than that which is with the People of the Book. Such is also the case with the laws
governing transactions, marriage, legal punishments - that which is with the Muslims is
greater and loftier than what the Jews and Christians have.

So, the Muslims are superior to them in regards to every bit of beneficial knowledge and
righteous action, and this is evident to anyone with the slightest bit of intelligence, and this
does not require much effort to realize...

And every person of intellect admits this, even from the Jews and Christians. They admit
that the religion of the Muslims is a true religion, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of
Allah, and that whoever obeys him enters Paradise. In fact, they even admit that the
religion of Islam is better than their own religion, as was mentioned by the philosophers,
such as Ibn Sina, etc. The philosophers of the world are agreed that there is no law better
than this Law. However, those who refuse to follow it excuse themselves by saying that it is
not obligatory for him to follow it, since the Messenger was sent to the unlettered Arabs in
exclusion to the People of the Book, and if his religion is true, then our religion is also true,
and the paths to Allah are many..."

[4/104-105]

Translated by Abu Sabaayaa