Tuesday, December 19, 2006


THE HAJJ IN BRIEF




FIRST DAY: 8 Zul Hajj

1. During the night before Fajr of 8 Zul Hajj, put on ihram, make your niyyah (intention) and recite talbiyah 3 times and pray to Allah Almighty.

2. After Fajr, leave Makkah for Mina. However, people can go to Mina even before Fajr during the night.

3. Today in Mina, offer Zuhr, Asr, Maghrib and Isha prayers.

4. Stay overnight in Mina.

SECOND DAY: 9 Zul Hajj

1. After Fajr prayer in Mina, go to Arafat.

2. In Masjid-e-Namra, the imam leads Zuhr and Asr prayers, combined and shortened, at Zuhr time. At other places in Arafat, similarly combine these two salats or offer them at their proper times with jama’at.

3. Wuquf-e-Arafat or standing until sunset.

4. At Maghrib time, without offering Maghrib prayer, leave for Muzdalifah.

5. Offer Maghrib and Isha prayers together in Muzdalifah at Isha time.

6. Stay overnight in Muzdalifah.

THIRD DAY: 10 Zul Hajj

1. In Muzdalifah, after Fajr prayer and Wuquf, proceed to Mina.

2. Throw 7 pebbles at Jamrat-ul-Aqabah.

3. Animal sacrifice.

4. Shave your head or cut some hair from it.

5. Go to Makkah for Tawaf-e-Ziarat.

6. Stay overnight in Mina.

FOURTH DAY: 11 Zul Hajj

1. At any time in the afternoon, throw 7 pebbles on each of the 3 pillars starting with the first pillar, then on the middle pillar, and lastly on the pillar of Aqabah.

2. If you could not do Tawaf-e-Ziarat yesterday, do it today.

3. Stay overnight in Mina.

FIFTH DAY: 12 Zul Hajj

1. At any time in the afternoon, throw 7 pebbles on each of the 3 pillars in he same order as was done on 11 Zul Hajj.

2. If you could not do Tawaf-e-Ziarat earlier, it is essential to do it today before Maghrib.

3. You can leave Mina on 12 Zul Hajj before the sun sets. If the sun sets before you are able to depart, remain in Mina for the third night and throw pebbbles again the next day.

Note:

  • In Mina, Arafat and Muzdlifa, all the prayers are shortened and offered at their proper times except noted above.
  • Whenever you finish Tawaf-e-Ziarat during the night, come back to Mina for stay.
  • There are 3 obligatory acts (Fard) without which Hajj is invalid:

* Ihram
* Wuquf-e-Arafat
* Tawaf-e-Ziarat

4. Before returning to your country after completing the rites of Hajj, perform the Farewell Tawaf (Tawaf al-Wida).

Source : www.ummah.net


Here I am at Your service, O Allah, here I am.

You have no partner, here I am.

You alone deserve all praise and gratitude.

To You belongs all favours, blessings and sovereignty and You have no partner.


To All Dear Friends and Readers who follow this blog.

I will be taking a hiatus of about a month to answer the Lord's invitation to me to perform the Hajj.

Please pray for the safe completion of my duties.

I will be praying for Allah's Blessing and Mercy on the Muslim Ummah.

Ameen.


Saturday, December 02, 2006

Mufti: Religious leaders can be challenged

By Fauwaz Abdul Aziz

Nov 27, 2006

It is the nature of the Quran to allow Muslims to question and challenge their religious leaders about the teachings and practices of Islam, said newly-minted Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

The Penang-born Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer was seconded to his new two-year post on Nov 1 to replace mufti Mat Jahya Hussin.

At 35, he is the youngest person in the country to hold the post. As mufti, Asri's role is to formulate and discuss fatwa and to advise the Perlis sultan and state government on all matters of Islamic law.

In an exclusive interview, the religious scholar said contrary to the tendency of many Muslims to react negatively to questions and criticism of their religion, Islam accords its detractors space to articulate their doubts and arguments.

He pointed out that the Quran not only engages by presenting arguments for its assertions and to support its veracity, but also accords the same space for its detractors.

"The Quran often says 'Bring forth your arguments if you are indeed truthful,' and 'summon your witnesses other than Allah if you are indeed truthful'," said Asri.

He contrasted this with the strong, often angry, responses of Muslims towards any questioning of their religion.

"They are always reacting and asking, 'What actions are we taking? This is deviant! This has gone astray!' and so on... Whatever view does not concur with theirs, they go amok instead of presenting arguments, reasons and evidence and answering intellectually, " said Asri.

The ability to respond appropriately and effectively to the challenges the ummah (Muslim community) is faced with, ideological or otherwise, is itself the biggest challenge, said Asri.

"The biggest problem is the state of the ummah's present sense of self," he said.

An idea, once introduced, may be only temporarily silenced by force, but it cannot be killed off except by an idea more powerful than the first, Asri said.

"That idea will live on in the minds and thoughts of people. If we want to do away with an idea or understanding, it is not by the use of force. It is by bringing in more powerful arguments," he added.

Reactionary conservatism

Asri illustrated this by reiterating his stance on apostasy, attributing current tensions to religious leaders who divert focus from the reasons that lead Muslims to apostasise.

Addressing such questions as the roots of apostasy, he explained, is the more relevant challenge Muslims and their religious leaders, rather than to issue calls for severe punishment for apostasy.

According to Asri, the younger generations are turning away from the reactionary conservatism of the religious establishment because the latter have ignored their intellectual needs.

"There are those in the Muslim community whose thoughts the conservative religious authorities have tried to freeze. (They may be) kept from thinking but are nevertheless thinking.

"(The conservatives) seek to stuff the mouths of the public and tell them, 'Don't speak of religion. Religion is our (exclusive) right', as what was done by the (Catholic) Church. 'Stop what you're doing and just listen', they would say.

"This cannot be accepted by the younger generations because they know they cannot be stopped from thinking."

While such conservative attitudes risk turning the young away from religion towards secularism as has happened in Europe, Malaysia has been witnessing the emergence of two movements that Asri believes will determine the direction of Islam.

"One is the Salafiyyah movement; the second, if things continue, is that of liberal Muslims," said Asri.

While the liberals criticise and go against even those things in religion that have been established by the Quran and Sunnah (recorded Prophetic traditions, or hadith), said Asri, the Salafi seek in their tajdid (revivalist movement) to make the Quran and Sunnah the terms of reference for Islamic discourse and to bring them up directly against the challenges of modern times.

"This tajdid movement that we are trying to bring about is an Islam that is genuine but that can, at the same time, confront the challenges that face us today, not the conservative form that confuses the modern generations, " he said.

"To me, being a Salafi is about going back to the fundamentals of Islam, going back to the foundations - the Quran and the Sunnah. That is what separates the Salafi from other reformists," he added.

"This Salafiyyah movement says we have the right to think, as the intellect has a function in religion, though the exercise of our thoughts should not go against the Quran and Sunnah."

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/60114