This tape is a repeat of tape number 144a, so please refer to it!

The questioner : What is the ruling on growing the nails long, knowing that they are clean, and is cutting them a recommended practice or an obligation? Please inform us of this?

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and I send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, and upon his family and all his Companions. Trimming the nails or cutting them is among the sunnah (recommended practices) of the fitrah (innate natural disposition) upon which Allah created the creation, finding it pleasing by His decree and legislating it for them as a sunnah (recommended practice). The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set a time limit for this, as well as for trimming the mustache, shaving the pubic hair, and plucking the armpit hair, that they should not be left for more than forty days. Accordingly, the nails should not be left uncut for more than forty days, whether they are clean or dirty, because the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). Not cutting them is contrary to the fitrah (innate natural disposition) upon which Allah created people. If the reason for keeping them and leaving them uncut for more than forty days is imitating the disbelievers whose fitrah (innate natural disposition) has deviated from soundness, then that is forbidden (haram), because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was narrated by Imam Ahmad with a good chain of narration. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: "The minimum status of this hadith is that it indicates prohibition, even though its apparent meaning implies that the one who imitates them is a disbeliever". However, if the reason for keeping them and leaving them uncut for more than forty days is merely a whim in the person's soul, then that is contrary to the fitrah (innate natural disposition) and contrary to what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set as a time limit for his Ummah (Muslim community). Yes.

The questioner : This is a message we received from Riyadh from one of the brother listeners, who has coded his name as a student of knowledge. He says:

The questioner : What are the correct opinions regarding the prayer of a person praying alone behind the imam? I hope the honorable Shaykh Muhammad will give me a comprehensive answer on this topic.

The Shaykh : There are three opinions among the scholars regarding the prayer of a person praying alone behind the row. The first opinion is that it is valid, but the person is contrary to the Sunnah, whether the row in front of him is complete or not. This is the well-known view of the three Imams: Malik, Abu Hanifah, and al-Shafi'i, and it is a narration from Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) and may Allah have mercy on all the Imams of the Muslims. They argued for this by interpreting the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): as negating perfection rather than negating validity.
The second opinion is that the prayer of a person praying alone behind the row for one rak'ah or more is invalid, whether the row in front of him is complete or not. These scholars argued based on the generality of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): and because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw a man praying behind the row and ordered him to repeat the prayer.
The third opinion is the middle one, which is that if the row is complete, then praying alone behind it is permissible and valid. This is the choice of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and it is the correct one. If you come to the mosque and find the row complete from the right and the left, there is no blame on you for praying alone, and your prayer is valid, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: and you have no ability to do more than that, because any other situation involves either pulling someone from the row to pray with you, or moving forward to pray with the imam, or leaving the congregation and praying alone, or praying with the congregation alone behind the row due to the inability to enter the row. These are four situations. As for the first situation, which is pulling someone to pray with you, this entails three or four prohibitions. It entails opening a gap in the row, which breaks the row; it entails moving a man from a superior place to an inferior place; it usually entails disturbing him; and it entails the movement of the entire row, because it is customary that when a gap occurs, people move closer to one another, resulting in the movement of the entire row without a religious reason.
As for a person moving forward to pray with the imam, there is one or more prohibitions in this. One of them is that if he moves forward and stands with the imam, this is contrary to the Sunnah, as the Sunnah is for the imam to be alone in his place to be the imam who is followed. If another person stands with him, it is as if the people have two imams. It is not applicable to this that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) came while Abu Bakr was praying with the people, so he came during the prayer and sat to the left of Abu Bakr and completed the prayer while Abu Bakr was on his right, because that was a situation of necessity, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) might not have had a place in the row behind him. Another prohibition in a person moving forward to the imam is that he passes over the necks of people, passing over the first row, and if there are two rows in the mosque, he passes over two rows, and if there are three, he passes over three, and so on. This causes disturbance to the worshippers along with harm to them. Then, if we tell him to move forward to the imam and another man comes and does not find a place in the row and we tell him to move forward to the imam, and he moves forward, and a third comes and we tell him to move forward, and he moves forward, then the one next to the imam becomes a complete row, and this is undoubtedly contrary to the Sunnah.
As for leaving the congregation and praying alone, this entails missing the congregation and missing the alignment of the rows. It is known that praying with the congregation while being alone in the row is better than being alone in the place and the action, being separate from the congregation, not aligning with them in their rows or their actions. As you can see, this opinion is indicated by the evidence and reasoning to be the stronger one, and Allah the Glorious does not burden a soul beyond its capacity. So the stronger opinion in my view is that if a person comes and the row is complete, he prays behind the row with the congregation. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.
This is a message we received from the listener Noura A B from Riyadh.

The questioner : In her letter, regarding the hadith whose meaning is "He who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of arrogance will not enter Paradise", she says she would like an explanation of this hadith, and does arrogance mean being arrogant toward people only?

The Shaykh : Yes, the answer is that the meaning of the hadith is that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informs that he who has in his heart the weight of a mustard seed of arrogance will not enter Paradise. This negation of entering Paradise is of two types. If this arrogance necessitates his disbelief and his exit from Islam, such as if he is arrogant toward the Shari'ah of Allah and rejects it, or rejects part of it, then this negation is a negation of entering entirely, because the disbeliever will never enter Paradise, and his abode is the Fire, where he will remain forever.
As for if the arrogance is arrogance over the creation and not submitting to what is obligatory toward them without rejecting the Shari'ah of Allah, but rather as tyranny and sin, then the negation of entry here is a negation of complete entry, meaning that he does not enter Paradise with complete entry until he is punished for what he neglected of the rights of people and is held accountable for it, because the rights of people must be fully satisfied. And with this, the answer to the following part of her question becomes clear, which is that arrogance is not only looking down on people, but rather arrogance, as explained by the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): meaning rejecting it and not caring about it meaning looking down on them and despising them.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.
This is a letter we received from the listener S. A. A. from the Arab Republic of Egypt, residing in Iraq. In her letter, she says.

The questioner : My husband swore an oath of divorce at me and said: "You are forbidden to me like my mother and my sister." A reconciliation took place and we returned to each other a second time, and I was pregnant in the seventh month. My family ruled that he should feed thirty poor people before the state of delivery. I am now two months postpartum, and my husband's circumstances are difficult. He intends to feed thirty poor people but has not done so until now. I am a Muslim woman, religious, and I fear Allah greatly. I am afraid that I am living with my husband in sin. I hope you will inform me about this, and I thank you.

The Shaykh : The answer is that the phrase your husband used against you is not a divorce, but it is zihar, because he said, "You are forbidden to me like my mother and my sister." Zihar, as described by Allah the Exalted, is an ugly statement and a lie. So your husband must repent to Allah for what happened, and it is not permissible for him to enjoy you until he does what Allah ordered him to do. And Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, said regarding the expiation for zihar: So it is not permissible for him to approach you and enjoy you until he does what Allah ordered him to do, and it is not permissible for you to allow him to do so until he does what Allah ordered him to do. And the statement of his family to him that he must feed thirty poor people is a mistake and not correct, because the verse, as you heard, indicates that what is obligatory on him is freeing a slave. If he does not find one, then fasting for two consecutive months. If he cannot do that, then feeding sixty poor people. And freeing a slave means freeing the enslaved slave and liberating him from slavery. And fasting for two consecutive months means fasting for two full months without breaking the fast for even one day, unless there is a religious excuse such as illness or travel. If the excuse is removed, he resumes his fasting from where he left off and completes it.
As for feeding sixty poor people, it has two forms or two methods: either he prepares food and invites these poor people to eat, or he distributes rice or similar food that people eat, giving each person a mudd of wheat or similar, and half a sa' of other food. Yes.

The questioner : This is a message we received from the listener Tariq Abbas al-Qaysi from Iraq, Baghdad. He included a set of questions in his message, starting with this question, saying:

The questioner : I am afflicted with epilepsy and was unable to fast the blessed month of Ramadan because I continued my treatment three times a day, and I tried fasting for two days but was unable to. I am a retiree, and my pension is eighty-three dinars per month. I have a wife and no income other than my pension. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view regarding my situation if I am unable to feed thirty poor people during the month of Ramadan? Please inform us, may Allah reward you. And what is the amount I must pay?

The Shaykh : The answer is that if this illness that has befallen you is expected to end one day, then it is obligatory for you to wait until this illness ends and then fast, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: But if this illness is continuous and not expected to end, then it is obligatory for you to feed one poor person for every day. It is permissible for you to prepare food for lunch or dinner and invite poor people equal to the number of days in the month, and you are absolved of your obligation by that. I do not think anyone is unable to do this, if Allah wills. There is no blame on you if you are unable to feed these poor people in one month; there is no blame on you for feeding some in one month, some in another month, and some in another month, according to your ability. Yes.

The questioner : May Allah bless you.
In his second question, he says.

The questioner : I have been maintaining the five daily prayers for over two years since I retired, but when the illness affected me, I was unable to perform the Fajr prayer until ten in the morning. Please advise us, may Allah reward you, in this matter, knowing that I was unable to do so due to the severity of the illness or epilepsy?

The Shaykh : It is obligatory for you to pray the prayer at its time, in whatever state you are in, even if you are lying down or sitting, and even if you are unable to perform the bowing and prostration except by nodding your head, then you must pray according to your condition. However, if you are completely unable, as if you are in a coma, and if this coma has persisted from before the dawn until the sun rises, then you do not have to make it up, because this is a loss of reason, and one of the conditions for the obligation of prayer is that a person be of sound mind. Yes.

The questioner : In his third question, he says.

The questioner : I pray in my home for the following reasons: I suffer from extreme shyness, even though I perform many voluntary prayers and engage in much supplication and glorification of Allah. Also, is the prayer performed at home not accepted? Please advise us. May Allah reward you?

The Shaykh : It is obligatory for you to pray in the mosque with the congregation. The shyness that leads to leaving the religious obligation is considered cowardice, and it is not permissible for a person to leave the obligation for the sake of this shyness. He must force himself to pray with the congregation. If he is shy one day, he will not be shy the next day. But if you are unable to go out to the mosque at all and you pray in your house, then there is no sin on you, because this is an excuse. And Allah the Exalted said: And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Yes.

The questioner : In his last letter, he says.

The questioner : What is the ruling of the Shari'ah, in your opinion, regarding a man who is prevented from performing the obligatory Hajj due to illness, and whose financial situation is also very difficult? What is the ruling in this case? May Allah reward you.

The Shaykh : Hajj is not obligatory except on one who is able to find a way to it, as Allah, the Exalted and Sublime, said: So if you are unable to find the way to Hajj due to a lack of money, then there is no Hajj on you. Even if you die in this state, there is no sin on you, because the obligation is dropped due to inability. Yes.

The questioner : This is a message from listener A B C, an Egyptian, who says in his message.

The questioner : I committed a sin, then turned to Allah with repentance for this sin and performed the expiation for it, then I committed the sin again and performed the expiation for this sin again, and until now I am repentant for this sin. What is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view regarding my action?

The Shaykh : The answer is: If a person commits a sin and then repents to Allah with sincere repentance that fulfills the five conditions of repentance, which are that his repentance be pure for Allah the Mighty and Majestic, that he regrets the sin he committed, that he abandons it immediately, that he resolves not to return to it in the future, and that the repentance be at a time when it is accepted, meaning before the appointed time arrives and before the sun rises from the west.
I say: If a person repents with this repentance, then Allah the Exalted accepts his repentance. Then, if he returns to the sin again and repents, Allah the Exalted accepts his repentance, and so on; whenever he repents, Allah accepts his repentance. As long as the situation is as the questioner described about himself, as long as his current state is one of rectitude and repentance, goodness is hoped for him in the future. We ask Allah the Exalted to bestow upon us and upon him sincere repentance.

The questioner : This is a message we received from the listener 'Abd al-Fattah 'Abbud, of Egyptian nationality, who works in Iraq. He says in his message:

The questioner : I am a young man who works in a place where there is bribery, and my salary is not enough to cover more than ten days of the month. Is it permissible for me to take a reasonable amount from the bribe to meet the family's needs, or not? And what is the ruling of the Shari'ah in your view regarding this matter?

The Shaykh : The answer is that taking a bribe is *suhht* (illicit earnings) and consuming wealth unjustly. There has come from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warnings regarding it that necessitate every believer to stay away from it. It is not permissible for you to take a bribe for the sake of your need; rather, it is obligatory for you to perform your job completely and give every right-holder his right. You have been given that salary in exchange for this work. If the salary is not enough for you for more than ten days of the month, perhaps you will find another profession with which you can occupy all your time. And He the Exalted said: .

The questioner : May Allah reward you, esteemed Shaykh, and may He magnify your reward.