This tape is a repeat of tape number (27b)!!!
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The questioner : Does a woman have to pray the Friday sunnah, meaning does she pray it at home, or does she pray along with the radio when it broadcasts the Friday prayer? I am in Iraq and the prayer is being broadcast from Kuwait. Please inform us, may Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. It appears that the questioner’s statement, “Does a woman have to pray the Friday sunnah,” means she is asking about the Friday prayer itself.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As indicated by the last part of her question, our answer is that the Friday prayer is prescribed only for men. It is not prescribed for a woman except as a follower of the imam if she attends the prayer with the people. That is, if she prays the Friday prayer with the people, it is permissible for her to pray the Friday prayer following them. However, in her home, it is obligatory for her to pray the Zuhr prayer. Likewise, any man who prays at home due to an excuse, such as being sick, must pray the Zuhr prayer.
As for praying behind the radio, it is not permissible. This is because one of the conditions of the Friday prayer is that it be performed in congregation. The one who prays behind the radio is not in a congregation; that is, he is not connected to the congregation that is praying. There are large, vast distances between him and them, and it cannot be said that those who pray behind the radio are part of the congregation of the mosque whose imam they follow on the radio.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the congregational prayer, as well as the Friday prayer, requires that the people be gathered, actually and legally, behind one imam.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And as for those who are separated by such long distances without the rows being connected, their prayer is not valid.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible for a woman, nor for anyone else, to pray the Friday prayer, or any prayer other than the Friday prayer, behind the radio. This is in addition to the possibility that the signal may be cut off, in which case the person remains in confusion. However, this is not actually a barrier, because if the imam’s voice is cut off and you are in the mosque and cannot follow him, you complete the remainder of your prayer alone.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Now, which is better: a woman praying Jumu'ah with the imam or praying at home?
The Shaykh : It is better for her to pray the Zuhr prayer at home.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : She should not pray with the imam, because a woman's home is better for her than attending the congregation, except for one prayer, which is the prayer of the festival. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered women to go out for it, even menstruating women and those in their private chambers, except that menstruating women should stay away from the place of prayer. It is obligatory for her, if she goes out, to go out without displaying her adornment and without wearing perfume.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Also, the sister Khawijah from Iraq.
The questioner : She asks: Is it permissible to read the book *Ta'tir al-Anam* by al-Nabulsi, which is about dream interpretation?
The Shaykh : Dream interpretation, whether it is *Ta'tir al-Anam* as you mentioned—and I have not seen this book—or by anyone else, a person should not trouble himself with it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us a decisive and comfortable ruling regarding it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That is, if a person sees something he dislikes, he should seek protection from its evil by seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, from the evil of what he saw, spitting to his left three times, not telling anyone about it, turning over from the side he was lying on when he saw what he disliked to the other side, and getting up to perform ablution and pray. By these means, he protects himself from the evil of this vision that frightened him. This is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of, and it is what comforts a person when he sees something he dislikes. However, if he sees something he likes and is pleased with it, there is no harm in telling those he loves about it, but he should not tell those he does not love, because if he tells those he does not love, they may plot against him.
The questioner : Yes, you have done well.
In fact.
The questioner : Sister Khawijah has a vision. She says: I saw in a dream that I had three tongues in my mouth, and these tongues were initially in a circle gathering the three tongues. I am afraid of this dream, so what is its interpretation? Please answer me with a satisfying solution.
The Shaykh : I do not know about this dream. Perhaps she is proficient in three languages, because the word “tongue” in the language means “language.”
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But this is not an interpretation from me, because I am not one of those who interpret dreams. It is established in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that a man came to him and said: I saw last night that my head was cut off, and I went out running after it, meaning running after his severed head.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: These are dreams that one sees, which Shaytan may use as an example for a person, and they are not true and have no basis. For this reason, I see that the woman who was frightened by this vision should not tell anyone about it, and then it will not harm her, if Allah wills.
The questioner : Do not tell anyone in the future, but in this case, she has already told the whole world.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She also asks in her fourth question.
The questioner : Is it permissible to pray in mosques that contain the graves of some of the righteous and the awliya (close friends of Allah), such as al-Hadrah, Ali al-Hadi, al-Ghaybah, or Sayyidna al-Zubayr? Is this considered associating partners with Allah or not?
The Shaykh : First, we must know that building mosques on graves is forbidden and not valid. That is, it is not permissible for anyone, whether they are those in authority or not, to build mosques on graves. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 703Sahih (Darussalam) warning against what they did. If the curse has become obligatory for the one who built a mosque on the grave of a Prophet, what do you say about the one who built a mosque on someone less than the Prophet, or even on something that may be imagined and not verified? As is said about some mosques built on al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), they may be in Iraq, in Sham, and in Egypt.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And I do not know how al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was one man and buried in three places. This is not reasonable. Al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), as the situation requires, was buried in the place where he was killed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And that his grave would be hidden out of fear for him from the enemies, just as the grave of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was hidden when he was buried in the palace of the governor in Kufa.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Out of fear of the Khawarij. For this reason, we see that these mosques, which are said to be built on the graves of some of the awliya, we see that it is obligatory to verify whether this is true or not. If it is true, then it is obligatory to demolish these mosques and build them away from the graves. If it is not true and there is no grave in them, then it is obligatory to make it clear to the Muslims that there are no graves in them and that they are free of them, so that they can perform the prayer in them in the required manner.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the belief of some of the common people that if they pray next to the grave of a wali or a Prophet, that this will be a cause for the acceptance of their prayer and an increase in its reward, then this is a false illusion. In fact, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying toward graves and said:Sunan an-Nasa'i 760Sahih (Darussalam) And he also said: Jami` at-Tirmidhi 317Sahih (Darussalam).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So graves are not a place for prayer. It is not permissible to pray around a grave ever, except for the funeral prayer for the person in the grave, because it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed over a grave.
In any case, we say that if these mosques are built on real graves, then it is obligatory to demolish them and build them in a place where there is no grave. If they are not built on real graves, then it is obligatory to make it clear to the Muslims and explain to them that this has no truth to it, and that there is no grave of so-and-so or so-and-so in them, so that they worship Allah the Exalted in the places of His worship while being at peace.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for praying in these mosques, if a person believes that it is an illusion and that there is no truth to the presence of a grave in it, then the prayer in it is valid. If he believes that there is a grave in it, then if the grave is in his qiblah, he has prayed toward the grave, and praying toward the grave is not valid due to the prohibition of it. If the grave is behind him, to his right, or to his left, this is a matter for consideration. Yes.
The questioner : A question from Khawijah Saleh from Iraq, the last one, she says.
The questioner : Some people, when they supplicate to Allah, say: “Our Lord, by their status with You,” meaning the status of the awliya and the righteous. Is this considered an intermediary in this supplication between the servant and his Lord? And peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : We should know that a means is only taken as a means if it is a real means, whether its reality is established by the Shari'ah or by reality.
As for taking a means that is not established as a means in the Shari'ah or in reality, this is from idle talk, and indeed a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Because establishing that this thing is a cause, while Allah the Exalted has not made it a cause, means legislating alongside Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in His decree or His Shari'ah, or associating with Allah the Exalted in His decree or His Shari'ah. So whoever establishes a cause that is not established as a cause, neither by reality nor by the Shari'ah, has associated partners with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) by making what is not a cause into a cause.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We look into this: Is seeking nearness to Allah the Exalted through the status (jah) of the awliya (close friends of Allah), the prophets, and the righteous prescribed in the Shari'ah? The answer is no. And we say to everyone who hears this: If you have evidence from the Shari'ah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or from the Companions or the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions) who followed them in excellence, that seeking nearness through status is prescribed, then bring it to us under the title "Light on the Path" on the Saudi Arabian radio. We pledge to Allah the Exalted and ask Him for assistance that whenever a sound, established piece of evidence from the Shari'ah comes to us, we will follow it, because that is our obligation.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So if anyone among the people believes that seeking nearness through status is prescribed, let him please present it, for we will accept it and be grateful for what he has provided us.
And if there is no evidence from the Shari'ah—and that is the case—I do not know, ever, that seeking nearness through status is prescribed. Is status a means in reality? The answer is no, because status with Allah is only of benefit to the one who has that status. As for others, what benefit do they have? If this man has status with Allah the Exalted, then the one who benefits from that status is the man himself. As for me, what benefit do I have from his status?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, status is not a means in reality either. So if status is not a means according to the Shari'ah nor according to reality, it is not permissible to take it as a means. Accordingly, it is forbidden for a person to say, "O Allah, I ask You by the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)," or "by the status of so-and-so or so-and-so" among those they claim to be awliya (close friends of Allah), because that is neither a cause prescribed by the Shari'ah nor a real cause. And if it is neither a cause prescribed by the Shari'ah nor a real cause, then affirming that it is a cause is a type of associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But instead of saying, "I ask You by the status of the Prophet" or "by the status of the wali (close friend of Allah)," one should say, "O Allah, I ask You by Your mercy, I ask You by Your favor, I ask You by Your goodness." This is better, because the favor, goodness, and mercy of Allah are more comprehensive, broader, and more beneficial to the person than the status of a man with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So your asking by the favor and mercy of Allah, and similar to that from the attributes of Allah the Exalted by which you seek nearness to Him, is undoubtedly better, more beneficial to the soul, and closer to being answered. Yes.
The questioner : You have done well. May Allah reward you.
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah. It appears that the questioner’s statement, “Does a woman have to pray the Friday sunnah,” means she is asking about the Friday prayer itself.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As indicated by the last part of her question, our answer is that the Friday prayer is prescribed only for men. It is not prescribed for a woman except as a follower of the imam if she attends the prayer with the people. That is, if she prays the Friday prayer with the people, it is permissible for her to pray the Friday prayer following them. However, in her home, it is obligatory for her to pray the Zuhr prayer. Likewise, any man who prays at home due to an excuse, such as being sick, must pray the Zuhr prayer.
As for praying behind the radio, it is not permissible. This is because one of the conditions of the Friday prayer is that it be performed in congregation. The one who prays behind the radio is not in a congregation; that is, he is not connected to the congregation that is praying. There are large, vast distances between him and them, and it cannot be said that those who pray behind the radio are part of the congregation of the mosque whose imam they follow on the radio.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And the congregational prayer, as well as the Friday prayer, requires that the people be gathered, actually and legally, behind one imam.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And as for those who are separated by such long distances without the rows being connected, their prayer is not valid.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, it is not permissible for a woman, nor for anyone else, to pray the Friday prayer, or any prayer other than the Friday prayer, behind the radio. This is in addition to the possibility that the signal may be cut off, in which case the person remains in confusion. However, this is not actually a barrier, because if the imam’s voice is cut off and you are in the mosque and cannot follow him, you complete the remainder of your prayer alone.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Now, which is better: a woman praying Jumu'ah with the imam or praying at home?
The Shaykh : It is better for her to pray the Zuhr prayer at home.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : She should not pray with the imam, because a woman's home is better for her than attending the congregation, except for one prayer, which is the prayer of the festival. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered women to go out for it, even menstruating women and those in their private chambers, except that menstruating women should stay away from the place of prayer. It is obligatory for her, if she goes out, to go out without displaying her adornment and without wearing perfume.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : Also, the sister Khawijah from Iraq.
The questioner : She asks: Is it permissible to read the book *Ta'tir al-Anam* by al-Nabulsi, which is about dream interpretation?
The Shaykh : Dream interpretation, whether it is *Ta'tir al-Anam* as you mentioned—and I have not seen this book—or by anyone else, a person should not trouble himself with it. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) gave us a decisive and comfortable ruling regarding it.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : That is, if a person sees something he dislikes, he should seek protection from its evil by seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, from the evil of what he saw, spitting to his left three times, not telling anyone about it, turning over from the side he was lying on when he saw what he disliked to the other side, and getting up to perform ablution and pray. By these means, he protects himself from the evil of this vision that frightened him. This is what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us of, and it is what comforts a person when he sees something he dislikes. However, if he sees something he likes and is pleased with it, there is no harm in telling those he loves about it, but he should not tell those he does not love, because if he tells those he does not love, they may plot against him.
The questioner : Yes, you have done well.
In fact.
The questioner : Sister Khawijah has a vision. She says: I saw in a dream that I had three tongues in my mouth, and these tongues were initially in a circle gathering the three tongues. I am afraid of this dream, so what is its interpretation? Please answer me with a satisfying solution.
The Shaykh : I do not know about this dream. Perhaps she is proficient in three languages, because the word “tongue” in the language means “language.”
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But this is not an interpretation from me, because I am not one of those who interpret dreams. It is established in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that a man came to him and said: I saw last night that my head was cut off, and I went out running after it, meaning running after his severed head.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him:
Do not tell people about Satan’s playing with you in your sleep.
لا تحدث الناس بتلاعب الشيطان بك في منامكThe questioner : Do not tell anyone in the future, but in this case, she has already told the whole world.
The Shaykh : Yes.
The questioner : She also asks in her fourth question.
The questioner : Is it permissible to pray in mosques that contain the graves of some of the righteous and the awliya (close friends of Allah), such as al-Hadrah, Ali al-Hadi, al-Ghaybah, or Sayyidna al-Zubayr? Is this considered associating partners with Allah or not?
The Shaykh : First, we must know that building mosques on graves is forbidden and not valid. That is, it is not permissible for anyone, whether they are those in authority or not, to build mosques on graves. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
May Allah curse the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.
لعنة الله على اليهود والنصارى اتخذوا قبور أنبيائهم مساجدThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And I do not know how al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was one man and buried in three places. This is not reasonable. Al-Husayn ibn 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), as the situation requires, was buried in the place where he was killed.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : And that his grave would be hidden out of fear for him from the enemies, just as the grave of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him) was hidden when he was buried in the palace of the governor in Kufa.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Out of fear of the Khawarij. For this reason, we see that these mosques, which are said to be built on the graves of some of the awliya, we see that it is obligatory to verify whether this is true or not. If it is true, then it is obligatory to demolish these mosques and build them away from the graves. If it is not true and there is no grave in them, then it is obligatory to make it clear to the Muslims that there are no graves in them and that they are free of them, so that they can perform the prayer in them in the required manner.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for the belief of some of the common people that if they pray next to the grave of a wali or a Prophet, that this will be a cause for the acceptance of their prayer and an increase in its reward, then this is a false illusion. In fact, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade praying toward graves and said:
Do not pray toward graves
لا تصلوا إلى القبورAll of the earth is a Masjid except for the graveyard and the washroom.
الأرض كلها مسجد إلا المقبرة والحمامThe questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So graves are not a place for prayer. It is not permissible to pray around a grave ever, except for the funeral prayer for the person in the grave, because it is established that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) prayed over a grave.
In any case, we say that if these mosques are built on real graves, then it is obligatory to demolish them and build them in a place where there is no grave. If they are not built on real graves, then it is obligatory to make it clear to the Muslims and explain to them that this has no truth to it, and that there is no grave of so-and-so or so-and-so in them, so that they worship Allah the Exalted in the places of His worship while being at peace.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : As for praying in these mosques, if a person believes that it is an illusion and that there is no truth to the presence of a grave in it, then the prayer in it is valid. If he believes that there is a grave in it, then if the grave is in his qiblah, he has prayed toward the grave, and praying toward the grave is not valid due to the prohibition of it. If the grave is behind him, to his right, or to his left, this is a matter for consideration. Yes.
The questioner : A question from Khawijah Saleh from Iraq, the last one, she says.
The questioner : Some people, when they supplicate to Allah, say: “Our Lord, by their status with You,” meaning the status of the awliya and the righteous. Is this considered an intermediary in this supplication between the servant and his Lord? And peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.
The Shaykh : We should know that a means is only taken as a means if it is a real means, whether its reality is established by the Shari'ah or by reality.
As for taking a means that is not established as a means in the Shari'ah or in reality, this is from idle talk, and indeed a type of shirk (associating partners with Allah). Because establishing that this thing is a cause, while Allah the Exalted has not made it a cause, means legislating alongside Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in His decree or His Shari'ah, or associating with Allah the Exalted in His decree or His Shari'ah. So whoever establishes a cause that is not established as a cause, neither by reality nor by the Shari'ah, has associated partners with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) by making what is not a cause into a cause.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : We look into this: Is seeking nearness to Allah the Exalted through the status (jah) of the awliya (close friends of Allah), the prophets, and the righteous prescribed in the Shari'ah? The answer is no. And we say to everyone who hears this: If you have evidence from the Shari'ah, from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or from the Companions or the Tabi'un (the generation after the Companions) who followed them in excellence, that seeking nearness through status is prescribed, then bring it to us under the title "Light on the Path" on the Saudi Arabian radio. We pledge to Allah the Exalted and ask Him for assistance that whenever a sound, established piece of evidence from the Shari'ah comes to us, we will follow it, because that is our obligation.
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So if anyone among the people believes that seeking nearness through status is prescribed, let him please present it, for we will accept it and be grateful for what he has provided us.
And if there is no evidence from the Shari'ah—and that is the case—I do not know, ever, that seeking nearness through status is prescribed. Is status a means in reality? The answer is no, because status with Allah is only of benefit to the one who has that status. As for others, what benefit do they have? If this man has status with Allah the Exalted, then the one who benefits from that status is the man himself. As for me, what benefit do I have from his status?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : Therefore, status is not a means in reality either. So if status is not a means according to the Shari'ah nor according to reality, it is not permissible to take it as a means. Accordingly, it is forbidden for a person to say, "O Allah, I ask You by the status of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)," or "by the status of so-and-so or so-and-so" among those they claim to be awliya (close friends of Allah), because that is neither a cause prescribed by the Shari'ah nor a real cause. And if it is neither a cause prescribed by the Shari'ah nor a real cause, then affirming that it is a cause is a type of associating partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : But instead of saying, "I ask You by the status of the Prophet" or "by the status of the wali (close friend of Allah)," one should say, "O Allah, I ask You by Your mercy, I ask You by Your favor, I ask You by Your goodness." This is better, because the favor, goodness, and mercy of Allah are more comprehensive, broader, and more beneficial to the person than the status of a man with Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : So your asking by the favor and mercy of Allah, and similar to that from the attributes of Allah the Exalted by which you seek nearness to Him, is undoubtedly better, more beneficial to the soul, and closer to being answered. Yes.
The questioner : You have done well. May Allah reward you.