The Shaykh’s review of letters read to him (including a summary of the description of prayer and a summary of the rulings on funerals).

The questioner : There is a young Shaykh named Khalid al-'Arfaj in the Eastern Province.

The Shaykh : Khalid what?

The questioner : Al-'Arfaj.

The Shaykh : Al-'Arfi?

The questioner : Al-'Arfaj.

The Shaykh : Al-'Arfaj?

The questioner : Khalid al-'Arfaj, yes, a young man who appears to be good and a Salafi. He put the *Jami' al-Saghir* and its additions, along with your comments, corrections, improvements, and weakenings, into the computer. I have a copy of this program. If you wish to look at it, if Allah wills, and if you find the opportunity, I will show it to you, because he is currently selling it. He mentioned, meaning he quoted things from you; it appears he spoke to you by telephone...?

The Shaykh : I do not agree to anything that some people do unless I have looked at it, because I feel that these books, every time they are reprinted, need to be reviewed again, because knowledge is advancing and renewing. Therefore, I do not allow anyone to come and do something on their own without me having looked at it. Then, my looking at it is not feasible at these times due to the tightness of time. So, what some people do today of collecting tapes and fatwas and the like and recording them, and then perhaps wanting to print them—if I had the time, I would find it a very great service to knowledge, on the condition that I look at it and correct some things. But this is not feasible.

The questioner : He is finished with it and is now selling it. I bought a copy from him, and it is with me on the computer.

The Shaykh : I am not in control of it, but this is my word and this is my advice.

The questioner : Okay, I understood from his intention that it is not printing on paper, but on the computer. So you output any hadith...

The Shaykh : This is the first stage, but another will follow.
Another questioner: Another on paper.

The Shaykh : Of course, the Shaykh laughs, may Allah have mercy on him.
Another questioner: Therefore, our Shaykh, we are presenting it to you.

The Shaykh : Yes, correct. But this, in truth, if you brought this to Oman, I would apologize to you, because I have no free time.
Another questioner: By Allah, in truth, we sent it to Oman, but it did not arrive. And Allah willed that we send it a second time in Ramadan. You were here in the hospital, may Allah heal you, and we were unable to meet you. And this brother told us, and I was eager to give it to Shaykh Ibn Baz to give it for issuing fatwas, to have it printed.

The Shaykh : Look here.
Another questioner: This is from the printing; I did not print it.

The Shaykh : No, I do not think it is from the printing, because there is a lot of this kind of thing. Do you see "that there be no severance between them"? The severance here, I do not know where you got it from. Al-Muslim narrated it, and then you linked it and said "or a junub." The evidence for junub is a menstruating woman or a woman in post-natal bleeding. Where did you get that from?
Another questioner: I just exerted effort and said we would analogize the menstruating woman to the junub. But now I realized, after looking at it, that I said the junub can remove his state of janabah...

The Shaykh : This is it.
Another questioner: Glory be to Allah.

The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible...
Another questioner: Therefore, sitting with the scholars has much good in it.

The Shaykh : We come to here...
Another questioner: Some righteous scholars come to my mind now.

The Shaykh : Where did you get this from? Is this from the Sunnah?
Another questioner: No, rather, what happened is that a person in the last of his life needs workers in him...

The Shaykh : This is philosophy, O Shaykh. Fear Allah.
Another questioner: May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : This is philosophy, as we said earlier when we spoke about the unlegislated public interest and detailed the speech in it. Did the requirement exist or not?

The questioner : Correct, correct.

The Shaykh : Did the requirement not exist for the Messenger to bring some readers and read? Did the requirement exist? Did he do it?

The questioner : Never.

The Shaykh : If this is deleted, but this is not to be struck through, be careful. It is not to be struck through as you did here in some issues with the Christian cross.
Another questioner: A question mark is placed on it, meaning some matters are wrong, and one strikes through them.

The Shaykh : Where did you see this? And this is a general affliction among the Muslims; they do not pay attention, and you are not the first traveler deceived by the moon.
Another questioner: It is the first time I have heard of it. I think it is in our share or something like that.

The Shaykh : Yes, yes, correct. Where is this? It might be here. Do you see this cross and this is the mark of striking through and the mark of addition? And I have innovated a good innovation in your place. Do you have a good innovation or not? Look, this is an addition in the French way. This is the mark of striking through, or an X, call it what you will. Have we dealt with this?
Another questioner: Correct, the shape is gone.

The Shaykh : Do we do it like this, head-on like this? This is not permissible. The Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, as in Sahih al-Bukhari, used to bite off a cross when he saw one.
Another questioner: Bite it?

The Shaykh : Bite it.
Another questioner: Bite it?

The Shaykh : Biting is like gnawing. In any case, this passage must be deleted. This hamza was placed between the alif and the nun, and the correct thing is to delete it and place the hamza under the alif, because it is a typographical error that we forgive. Okay, but as for this, we do it like this.
Another questioner: Then we will do it, if Allah wills.

The Shaykh : Okay, here is another issue that has precision. They teach me the two testimonies gently so that my last word will be "There is no god but Allah." This has no necessity. And even if it is the completion of the testimony "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah", it is not said here because, first, it is contrary to the Sunnah.
Another questioner: And the hadith only restricted it to .

The Shaykh : This is a statement that has no place in grammar, because I tell you this did not come in the hadith, and this is what you said about it. So this is deleted. The point is that the deceased should be facing with his whole heart to the worship of Allah alone, having no partner. Correct, the faith of a believer is not completed except by adding the second testimony to the first. Correct, this is from the aspect of teaching and life. But at the presence of death, only the testimony of tawhid is taught, as you know in the many hadiths: "Say: There is no god but Allah?"
Another questioner: There is no god but Allah.

The Shaykh : And that is all. Here, look at the error. "If my soul departs, then close my eyes." How is this "my eyes"?
Another questioner: My eyes?

The Shaykh : His eyes. You made it a large yaa here.
Another questioner: May Allah preserve you.

The Shaykh : Okay, what else is here? We were able to read in your guest here: why did you combine "reward us in our calamity" when the hadith is singular?
Another questioner: O Allah, reward us in his calamity?

The Shaykh : Yes.
Another questioner: Correct.

The Shaykh : Correct, or else am I speaking in something not correct? The Shaykh laughs, may Allah have mercy on him.
Another questioner: What do you think, should I read to you or do you read?

The Shaykh : No, I read.
Another questioner: May Allah assist you.

The Shaykh : Here there is great consideration. You are commanding here. Is this command effective in the Shari'ah? "Hasten to pay my debts from my personal money," okay. Or else, "from my children's money," okay. But as for this, "and my relatives," what is your authority over the relatives? If one of them volunteers, may Allah reward him with good. But you command? That is not permissible.
Another questioner: Okay, meaning you restrict your command to...?

The Shaykh : It is not permissible. You have authority over him, but you do not have authority over these, meaning the relatives. Okay?
Another questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : If you verify my death, do you want a medical committee or what?
Another questioner: Some people faint for more than an hour or two in a state of unconsciousness, so one does not know...
The Shaykh laughs, may Allah have mercy on him.
Another questioner: A story happened here in Madinah once, O Shaykh. They mentioned that the person...

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you! Do not tire yourselves with the details, because one, two, or three details do not form a rule. Does the meaning of this word imply that they brought the doctor to rule on his death? Perhaps you say, as I think well of you, no, it does not mean this. So what does it mean? Because people today do it this way, meaning they do not bury until they are sure.

The questioner : Until the doctor gives them the report...

The Shaykh : Ah, the Shaykh laughs, may Allah have mercy on him.

The questioner : What is the ruling if I die in a land of disbelief and there is no Islamic cemetery in it?

The Shaykh : He is transferred.
Another questioner: He is transferred... he is not to his country.

The Shaykh : No, to save him from the environment of the disbeliever's land, just... that you place. These are all martyms by ruling, not in reality, because the martyr in reality is the first one who died in the battle... This is prohibited from being declined, okay.
Another questioner: Okay.

The Shaykh : It is a summary of the book on the description of prayer.

The questioner : We wanted that by it.

The Shaykh : But who reads this will?

The questioner : This only means that every Muslim receives it and reads it once, so that when the one who is shrouded dies, we read to him what he should do. The one who washes the body reads to him what he should do. The one who buries reads to him what he should do.

The Shaykh : This is a summary of the book *Sifat al-Salah* (The Description of Prayer). As for the will, what is it? How many pages is this?

The questioner : Fourteen pages.

The Shaykh : The will is to be fourteen pages. Who is going to read it? And who is going to execute it?
Another questioner: We summarized it in seven pages, meaning without mentioning the chain of narration.

The Shaykh : ... those who pray for me, how is this "excess" to be understood?
Another questioner: For example, people pray for him in the mosque, there are many people praying for him, but they do not pray for him at the grave.

The Shaykh : No, praying at the grave is prohibited. I am asking how the "excess" is to be understood. Does not the concept of "excess" include publicizing it...?
Another questioner: The funeral procession, the announcement of death.
Another questioner: The announcement of death and delaying it.

The Shaykh : Does not that fall under the concept of "excess"?
Another questioner: Yes, it does.

The Shaykh : And is that permissible?
Another questioner: Never.

The Shaykh : So then? There are several phrases that could be used, for example, one could say that he is prayed for in a place where a large gathering is present, or something similar. But as for you increasing it?
Another questioner: And it is not in their hands.

The Shaykh : It is not in their hands. Why did you not say here "Surat al-Fatihah and a surah"? What is authentic with you, and what is a surah?
Another questioner: It is authentic, it passed by us.

The Shaykh : What is authentic with you, or is it authentic?
Another questioner: It is authentic.

The Shaykh : Why did you not say so?
Another questioner: Secretly.

The Shaykh : Why?
Another questioner: I am saying now, if it were just a large gathering, I would raise the idea with you. That is why I left it as it is.

The Shaykh : Remember the *maslahah mursalah* (public benefit not explicitly mentioned in the texts). How was the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the mosque? Was there a large gathering?

The questioner : Yes, that is correct. But now, like in the Haram, for example, there are crowds. So if he said the taslim secretly, it would not be possible for the others to hear, meaning the voice.

The Shaykh : May Allah forgive you.
Another questioner: May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh : If the imam says this: "Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah" in a low voice, what will those behind him do?
Another questioner: They will say the taslim.

The Shaykh : And those behind them?
Another questioner: They will say the taslim, they will say the taslim.

The Shaykh : So the taslim here must be like the waves of the sea. What is the obstacle?
Another questioner: And what about those outside?

The Shaykh : Which outside?

The questioner : Outside the mosque, because the mosque is not like every other mosque.

The Shaykh : I mean, is there a barrier like the barrier of Dhul-Qarnayn between them and those who said the taslim?
Another questioner: This could be implemented in a mosque if this means...

The Shaykh : No, do not repeat your words, because your words are not in a foreign language, it is understood. But I am telling you...
Another questioner: The taslim can be...

The Shaykh : So what is the obstacle? I see you, without offense, as being from the people of *ra'y* (opinion).
Another questioner: There is no power or strength except with Allah.

The Shaykh : Perhaps you were a Hanafi from the people of *ra'y* like my story, so old remnants remained in you.
Another questioner: We grew up in the Hanafi school until Allah granted us the Islamic University.

The Shaykh : So why do you impose your opinion on the Sunnah?
Another questioner: If Allah wills, we do not rule on it, and if it happens, it is due to remnants...

The Shaykh : Our Lord, do not hold us accountable if we forget or make a mistake. Is this ruling correct regarding the man?
Another questioner: By Allah, I do not know.

The Shaykh : Look at what the hadith says. We witnessed... Read it now?

The questioner : .

The Shaykh : Ah, so he descended into her grave. Similarly, did he descend into his grave?
Another questioner: The man descends for the man.

The Shaykh : And does he have to be one who did not have intercourse that night?
Another questioner: Here the ruling is different, yes, it is different.

The Shaykh : Yes, it varies.

The questioner : I mean this condition is...

The Shaykh : Specific to women, of course. Is it general? Where does the generality come from? Is the text general or specific?
Another questioner: I do not know.

The Shaykh : How do you not know, my brother? Is this a specific incident? Does it have generality?
Another questioner: I do not think it has generality.

The Shaykh : Okay, you have understood, so stick to it. But I will tell you something else, for the sake of precision in research and knowledge. It has generality and it does not have generality. Do you know how?
Another questioner: No.

The Shaykh : It has generality regarding anyone other than Zaynab and Abu Talhah, so it includes every woman and every man who wants to lower a woman into the grave. So from this perspective, it is not specific. But it is not general in the sense that this ruling is applied to a man who wants to lower a man into his grave, requiring that the one lowering him did not have intercourse with his wife that night. No, this has no generality. Is that clear?
Another questioner: Yes.
Another questioner: Does the fact that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) buried men from the Companions without requiring that a man who had not had intercourse... indicate the lack of this generality?

The Shaykh : Of course, that is so. In my copy of *Ahkam al-Jana'iz* (Rulings on Funerals), which will be printed later, correctly, if Allah wills, because is not in al-Bukhari. In al-Bukhari, this is a narration of Muslim. When visiting graves, make this supplication, whether the visitor is a man or a woman? Or does your university study not help you?

The questioner : The visitor or the one being visited?

The Shaykh : I am saying, when visiting graves, whether the one being visited is a man or a woman? Or do you mean if you are a man?
Another questioner: I mean the man.

The Shaykh : And the woman?
Another questioner: And the woman, what do we do? Do we make this supplication for her or not?

The Shaykh : When visiting graves, make this supplication. Excuse me, I made a mistake. Whether the visitor is a man or a woman.

The questioner : Yes, a man.

The Shaykh : Ah, a man and not a woman, but here there is a contradiction.
Another questioner: What is it?

The Shaykh : Look at what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught to the Mother of the Believers, A'ishah.
Another questioner: I mean by that the wording...

The Shaykh : I am not asking you what you intend. I asked you what you intend? So why do you answer me about something I did not ask you about? I say you have a contradiction. When visiting graves, meaning when a man visits graves, he makes this supplication that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught to the Mother of the Believers, A'ishah. Why did he teach A'ishah this supplication for visiting graves, and she is a woman, and you say women do not visit graves? Take it and reflect.
Another questioner: She asked him and said to him, how do I say it?

The Shaykh : You are answering about something that you are exhausting yourself with, until your wording is correct if you add the following addition, otherwise you are contradictory. When visiting graves, whether by a man or a woman, they make this supplication that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) taught to A'ishah. But if you say "when a man visits graves, they make this supplication that the Messenger taught to A'ishah," there is a contradiction. So either you remove the evidence because it contradicts your claim, the evidence indicates that it is permissible for a woman to visit graves, and we say as the Messenger taught A'ishah, or you correct your wording here at the beginning of the paragraph and say "when visiting graves, whether by a man or a woman, they make this supplication" to the end of it.
Another questioner: When men visit graves, they make this supplication that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) taught to A'ishah, or you mention the hadith without mentioning it.

The Shaykh : Now the research moves from the compiler of the treatise to those present. Did you understand what I am saying?
Another questioner: Yes, yes.

The Shaykh : Fine.
Another questioner: The research now has an issue with me that it is not correct for women to visit graves.

The Shaykh : This is incorrect speech.
Another questioner: We have that women do not visit graves.

The Shaykh : This hadith, you brought it.