Explaining the Condition of the Muslims in Palestine in Terms of Creed and Methodology.

The questioner : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, and upon his family and all his companions. As for what follows, I inform you that I came from Palestine yesterday, and I stayed there for about fourteen days, most of which was in the West Bank. Then I went to our brothers in Khan Younis to see what our brothers there are providing in support of the base that you always mention, namely purification and education. They are currently building the Masjid al-Bal and a house for hadith and a house for the Noble Qur'an. I am pleased to tell you that what I saw gladdened my heart, and that they are indeed striving with all their effort to teach the creed. In fact, I saw their activity in teaching there; they start with the youth, and they also have lessons for women, lessons for the youth, and lessons for children, all centered around the base of purification and education. However, they lack the expansion of the mosque, which they have now built a long way into, but the final items remain, such as the windows and others, to complete this work. I had brought live pictures of this project. In fact, I was gladdened and very happy when I saw them focusing on the creed and on authentic hadiths, because the brother Samir Mabhuth, may Allah reward him with good, is a graduate of the College of Hadith from the Islamic University, and he follows the methodology of the people of hadith in studying, tracing, and verifying. I can say, yes, and I saw him in a good state. I saw the youth there striving with all their effort for the circles of knowledge. Even when I delivered a lecture, the youth attended, and I was surprised by their commitment to the Sunnah and its application, meaning even in straightening the rows. If the imam sometimes takes five minutes to straighten the row from the beginning to the end, the people do not get angry and do not complain. I thought they would complain, but they know such a matter. Yes, and they always, meaning, they love the people of hadith, so they mention you and they mentionThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz and our shaykhs with good always, and they strive to follow your fatwas and your words, and even your tapes, which are found in abundance there, praise be to Allah. But they lack a great deal, and I have written down what they lack, and if Allah wills, assistance will come to them soon, if Allah wills. As for what I saw in the West Bank, I saw something astonishing. I was surprised by their condition. First, partisanship is eating them up in a very strange way.The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : So Hamas is against Fatah, and Fatah is against Hamas, and these are proud of what they provide, and those are competing with them over what they provide. Then a new party appeared after the fall of Russia called Hashaf. If I say Hashaf, it is known in Palestine, and it refers to the Palestinian Popular Movement, the Palestinian People's Party. Yes, well done, may Allah reward you with good. I am known among them. And I was surprised by the amount of writing on the walls, and on the buildings, meaning a person builds a building costing thousands of dinars, and our brother comes to write what he sees. It happened that it was written on the house of one of the brothers, and this brother had truly given everything he owned to build the building. So they came and wrote, and he got angry and erased it. Because he erased it, a statement was issued against him. The statement is with me, it is in my uncle's house. If you wish, I will bring this statement and read it to you. They ruled that he should stay in his house for three months without leaving, and they ruled that he should stand in the mosque and apologize for this heinous act in public. And I believe they ruled that he should relinquish some of the lands. What does he relinquish of his property? Then they burned his house, and his children and women and everyone in the house. By Allah, a shaykh told me this directly, and by Allah, I almost cried at what I heard. Then they harass him day and night until I said to him, I believe the Sharia ruling for you is that you should migrate from your house to an area with safety and stability... By Allah, I know the value of migration from the lesson of the methodology, oh shaykh, he knows.

The Shaykh : I know, oh Shafiq.

The questioner : And the statement is with me, located... and I also saw another picture that we...

The Shaykh : Excuse me, it is a bit confusing to me, meaning which party did the deed to the man?

The questioner : Hamas.

The Shaykh : The same Hamas!

The questioner : The same Hamas!

The Shaykh : Are these people religious, meaning?

The questioner : These religious people draw near to Allah by harming this man and burning his house and burning his property.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Rather, the man is now sleeping in our village... the Ramallah cases, he is afraid to return to his village!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : By Allah, only the Israeli army protected him!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Yes, by Allah, his enemies are the ones who saved him from their hands!
Abu Layla : Say the army of the Jews, and do not say the Israeli army.

The questioner : The army of the Jews, yes. From some of what I read on the walls for our brothers in Hamas, a banner says, yes to peace and no to surrender. So I spoke in one of the mosques and said that the so-called peace is surrender, because true peace does not exist except from an Islamic state to a disbeliever state, where the benefit returns to the Islamic state. So I said this is from the... But I did not really want to speak about it, which is the spread of what is called the blue bead in the West Bank, on the houses and in the cars!

The Shaykh: Glory be to Allah!

The questioner : And it is as if this matter is a given among the people; if they do not hang a blue bead, they hang small sandals. I know what they believe about it!

The Shaykh : Of course.

The questioner : So I spoke in one of the mosques and said, what tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is this if we look away from the blue bead and believe that it benefits!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : This is shirk (associating partners with Allah) itself.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Then in the weddings, any wedding that takes place there has dough stuck at the door, dough with a rose in it. If the dough is stuck, they say he will not divorce her!

The Shaykh : What Allah willed.

The questioner : And if it falls, they say he will divorce her!

The Shaykh : He will divorce her.

The questioner : Yes, so I said this is a flaw in tawhid (the oneness of Allah), oh our brothers.

The Shaykh : This is taking an omen as a bad sign and pessimism. Allah is the Greatest.

The questioner : I said, where are the callers to tawhid (the oneness of Allah)? You want to worship Allah through politics, but the first thing is that we should know Allah, Mighty and Majestic!

The Shaykh : They must rule by Islam.

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : They do not rule by Islam in their own affairs.

The questioner : Then I asked those who write on the walls and these buildings, do they receive a wage, or do they seek nearness to Allah, meaning...? They said they do not receive a wage. Yes, so I said, Glory be to Allah. Hamas last year collected from Saudi Arabia, with certainty, five million riyals. So I said, if it were distributed to the poor, by Allah, the people, by Allah, they are begging, by Allah, they have nothing. As for what I saw in al-Aqsa, oh shaykh, I am telling you what I saw and heard!

The Shaykh : Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.

The questioner : Meaning, the chain of narration is that there is nothing between us and what I saw, no intermediary.

The Shaykh : Our chain of narration is high.

The questioner : High.

The Shaykh : Without intermediaries.

The questioner : Yes, I prayed Jumu'ah (the Friday prayer) there. They place the women in what is called the Dome of the Rock, below, separating them from the men completely. They place the women there, reserving them.

The Shaykh : What does that mean, why?

The questioner : So that the courtyard is for the men and the mosque is for the men only. Yes.The Shaykh : Meaning, this is scrupulousness, meaning!

The questioner : By Allah, I do not know, but oh my shaykh... it is a matter... a matter, meaning, it is forbidden for a man to enter there in the first place. If you want to enter, they say no, stand for the women only... this is at the limit of prayer... yes, at the limit of the Jumu'ah (Friday prayer) prayer. Another questioner: ... the time of the adhan (call to prayer), meaning, as for...

The questioner : The Dome of the Rock is not part of the courtyard of al-Aqsa, oh shaykh. This is one thing, because it rises twenty-one steps. I climbed the steps until it rose twenty-one steps, then the Dome of the Rock is in front of you, regardless of whether it is a Sunni mosque or an innovator mosque, that is another matter. But we say this is not part of the courtyard where the rows are connected. Then what is the evidence for reserving the women under that rock or above that rock? The witness: We entered the mosque, and three shaykhs stood up. I know they are from al-Azhar from their red turbans. One of them spoke, each one.

The Shaykh : The white one on the red fez!

The questioner : Yes, each one spoke for half an hour, and I was counting for him. And when he finished, he said, go, recite al-Fatihah for the Prophet!

The Shaykh : Allah is the Greatest. Yes, this...

The questioner : And when he finished his speech, one of the mu'adhdhins (the one who calls to prayer) stood up and recited three or four verses. He also says, go, recite al-Fatihah for the Prophet, andThe Shaykh : the second comes and speaks. I wish you could hear the things they are speaking about!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : As for correcting hadiths and weakening them, this is a matter of no concern!

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : The second man said, "I said, perhaps this is his sign: the most he says to the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) spirit is the al-Fatihah." He recited it. I swear by Allah, I am astonished... I see things and I deny them, but I deny them with my heart. If I stood up, they might seek nearness to Allah with my blood. Then he recited three or four verses in the voice of 'Abd al-Basit. Of course, one who recites shaves his beard, and Allah knows best about his prayer and his tawhid (the oneness of Allah). The point is, he said al-Fatihah six times. People are destroyed by reciting al-Fatihah. Yes. And as for our preacher, his entire sermon was a call; it was all calls to the "rotten organization," demanding from them!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : With tolerance toward our brothers in Marj al-Zuhur...

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : There are two versions. Marj is our brother; he says "Tall al-Zuhur," and I know it is "Marj al-Zuhur"... I said, perhaps you have knowledge that has not reached me!

The Shaykh : Perhaps it is "al-Marj Tall" on my side, combining the two versions...

The questioner : So his sermon, by Allah, was in what they call politics and the fiqh of reality!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Yes, I will tell you of an incident that happened before me atThe Shaykh : Ibn Baz's place. Five of the leaders of Hamas were there. As for their speaker, he was shaving his beard and his mustache!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : And he was wearing European clothes with a tie!

The Shaykh : And he was sitting in the council ofThe Shaykh ؟

The questioner : We were sitting in the council ofThe Shaykh : He was speaking. I was talking to my companion when I heard his voice. I thought it was Ibn Taymiyyah because of the precision of his speech!

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : When I looked at him, I said, "I seek refuge in Allah. This is a speaker for Hamas speaking!"

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : They are demandingThe Shaykh : A full one-hour tape supporting our brothers in Marj al-Zuhur, encouraging them to be patient, saying, "Be patient, and you are in the right."The Shaykh : He was cautious in his speech and did not give a direct answer. The important thing is, we got up for lunch, so I sat at a tableThe Shaykh : and our brothers were sitting there.

The Shaykh : Allah is sufficient for me, and He is the best Disposer of affairs.

The questioner : So I said, "O Shaykh, I have a question." He said, "Go ahead..."

The Shaykh: And upon you peace.

The questioner : I said, "Is it permissible for our Palestinian brothers, in parentheses Hamas, to open a da'wah office in Tehran...?" Every one of them looked at me as if I had disbelieved in Allah!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : By Allah, if I had disbelieved, it would have been easier, because we are in Palestine!

The Shaykh : It would have been easier for them, meaning?

The questioner : They openly insult the Creator and no one denies it, but if you say, "Ahmad Yassin made a mistake in such-and-such a fatwa," people look at you wanting to kill you. We noticed this, O Shaykh!

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : The important thing is, he wasThe Shaykh : wise in his answer. He said, "According to the maslahah (public benefit). If there is a maslahah, there is no objection." So one of them said, "May Allah reward you with good, O Shaykh. By Allah, you have closed the door on a fitnah (trial, discord or temptation) that was about to occur!"

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : Yes, I said, "A second question, O Shaykh." He said, "Go ahead," but heThe Shaykh : did not want me to ask!

The Shaykh : Yes, exactly.

The questioner : I said, "Is it permissible to pray behind the Shi'ah?" One of them said, "Why? They are kafir (disbelievers)!" He saidThe Shaykh : ... The fatwa is that it is not permissible to pray behind the Shi'ah. He said, "We have not prayed." I said, "Why? We have color photos, high and long, of these brothers praying behind this one named Rafsanjani!"

The Shaykh : What? They went there!

The questioner : ... They have a da'wah office now, O our Shaykh. The activity of the Shi'ah in Palestine is the biggest state supporting Hamas... Be quiet a bit... Do not get involved in the third nut, may Allah guide you... Yes, from Tehran, yes.

The Shaykh: Allahu Akbar.

The questioner : O Shaykh, well, I return to my first question. Who determines this maslahah? Scholars? May Allah reward you, what kind of talk is this??

The Shaykh : You have done well.

The questioner : He said, "No, the scholars." I said, "The scholars, O Shaykh, the recognized ones." They said, "No maslahah, so should it remain open or be closed?" He said, "It is closed." So he changed the subject entirely. Yes. Now we return to the question of our brothers in Khan Younis. They are asking two questions. The first question: Is it permissible for them to combine Maghrib with 'Isha' or combine Maghrib with Maghrib?