Open Session with Al-Allaamah Shaykh Ubayd al-Jabiree

22 Ramadhan 1430-September 12, 2009

Question 1

What can a woman do to seek Laylat-ul Qadr while on menses?

Answer

♦ Make tasbeeh, tahleel (laa ilaaha), tahmeed (Alhamdulillah),

takbeer (allahu akbar), istighfar and du’a and all types of legislated
adhkaar
♦ Woman in menses can do all acts of worship except siyam (fasting)
and salah
♦ May stand and recite the Qur’aan and supplication
♦ Repeat du’a of forgiveness authentically reported from the Prophet
salla allahu alayhi wa sallam during the last ten nights

"O Allah! Verily, you are the Oft-Pardoning, You love to pardon,
so pardon me."
"Allaahumma Innaka 'Afuwwun Tuhibbul-'Afwa Fa'affoo
'annee."

♦ Any person kept from fasting due to a legislated excuse who has the
niyah and strong will to do an action that they are prevented from
their reward and benefit is written for them with Allah azza wa jal.
♦ Hadith: While the Prophet was in a Ghazwa he said, "Some people
have remained behind us in Medina and we never crossed a
mountain path or a valley, but they were with us (i.e. sharing the
reward with us), as they have been held back by a (legal) excuse."

Question 2

In the case of Muslims living in non-Muslim countries where there is

discord about when to start and stop fasting which country should be
followed?

Answer

♦ To the native residents of non-muslim countries, you should follow

the most trusted Muslim countries when it comes to moon sightings
who have committees set up specifically for moon sighting
♦ Temporary residents from muslim nations in non-muslim countries
should follow their own countries sighting if it is trusted in moon
sighting or any other country that is good in moon sighting
♦ Astronomical calculations have no weight islamically and no real
attention paid to the science of moon sighting calculations
♦ We are restricted to the actual sighting of the moon
♦ Hadith: The Messenger of Allah salla allahu alayhi wa sallam said,
"Observe Saum (fast) on sighting the crescent and terminate it on
sighting it (the new moon).
♦ So do not start until the crescent of Ramadhan is seen and do not
stop until the new moon of Shawwal

Question 3

Libya, as well as other nations, do not follow the moon sightings by

Saudi and rely on astronomical calculations only. A) If government
forces people to start Ramadhan late should we fast secretly? B) Pray
with them for ‘Eid and break fast to avoid persecution and make up the
fasts later (because they call eid before sighting of Shawwal)?

Answer

♦ Residents of these countries should not follow the leaders in their

endings and beginnings of the month because they oppose the
sunnah
♦ If the people fear leaders’ oppression and tyranny then they can
fast secretly
♦ If country forces them to start ramadhan before actual sighting of
crescent they can fast but make their intention and mustahabb fast
and not wajib
♦ Person may pretend to have broken their fast and pray the ‘eid salat
if able to do so if government ends ramadhan before it is actually
over
♦ They should follow the muslim countries that are going according to
the correct sighting
♦ If there is no fear of oppression by the rulers then they should not
obey them and fast and pray ‘eid correctly
♦ If the individual is known to the government and may be being
watched by them then they should go to ‘eid salat and continue
fasting but not secretly

Question 4

Sister with asthma must use an inhaler even when doing light
household duties. What is her “relationship” with Ramadhan and what
is her situation regarding Ramadhans past?
Answer

♦ If the mist from the inhaler condenses and becomes liquid and
enters the lungs and blood vessels then it certainly breaks the fast
♦ Try to make up the fasts slowly throughout the year
♦ If not able you must feed a poor person for everyday that you
missed
♦ If you cannot go without the inhaler you must feed a sick person for
everyday that you have missed of the all your Ramadhan’s based
upon your calculation of what you have missed

Question 5

Wife is sick and the doctor says that fasting will make her sickness
worse but she does not want to stop. As her husband, can I order her
to stop fasting and must she obey me in this?

Answer

♦ Islam is a deen of yusr (ease)

♦ If it is found that the fast is indeed making her illness worse then it
is wajib for her to obey you firstly and follow the doctor’s orders and
not fast
♦ However if it is found that the fasting is not harming her and it is
proven then she may continue fasting

Question 6

Wife did not fast due to preganancy last Ramadhan and husband did
not expiate for her. Can he feed 30 people in one day, as Ramadhan is
nearly over? Does she need to make up those fasts? (kadtha)

♦ Shaykh admonished questioner and censured against pregnancy

being used as an excuse to break the fast
♦ Only those who have a chance or harming themselves and/or their
baby are permitted to break the fast
♦ A doctor must determine whether or not this is the case
♦ It is upon the wife to make kadtha for the last Ramadhan and fast
those days

Question 7
A woman who has bleeding connected to menses but it is irregualar
outside of her normal time of menses who wishes to pray Tahajjud, can
she take a ghusl before she prays Tahajjud and then make ablution
before fajr? Or should she make ablution for tahajjud and then ghusl
for Fajr?

♦ Firstly not upon you to make ghusl except for after the time of
actual menses is over to purify yourself
♦ What is wajib is making ablution before every prayer and to clean
any blood that looks like it may be menstrual blood
♦ You may make ghusl for every prayer if you wish, or before fajr, but
it is not wajib upon you

Open Session with Al-Allaamah Shaykh Ubayd al-Jabiree

24 Ramadhan 1430-September 14, 2009

Question 1

What is upon a woman who breaks her fast due to breastfeeding?

Answer

♦ Understand that breastfeeding in and of itself is not a legal excuse

to break one’s fast
♦ Woman must struggle to fast
♦ If she feels sick, very tired or her milk starts to dry up then it is
permissible to break the fast then make kadtha (make up the fasts)

Question 2

If a woman’s menses ends in the daytime during Ramadhan, how does

it affect her fast?

Answer

♦ There are 4 possible situations for a woman and fasting during

Ramadhan regarding her menses
o 1) Menses starts in the night time – no fasting required for her
the next day
o 2) Menses starts during the day even if moments before
sunset/iftaar – should eat and drink no matter what time of
day, i.e. break the fast
o 3) Woman becomes pure from menses during the day after
fajr – does not have to stop eating and drinking. If she
 decides to leave food and drink this becomes a voluntary fast.
If her husband has a legal excuse not to fast and he calls her
for intimate relations she is required to respond.
o 4) If a woman becomes pure from menses before fajr it is
upon her to fast

Question 3

What is upon the person who intentionally did not fast the month of
Ramadhan with no legal excuse? Can the make kaffara (expiation) or
just Tawbah?

Answer

♦ Firstly, it is upon the individual to make tawbah (repent) and make

istighfar (seek Allah’s forgiveness)
♦ The person must make kadtha and make up those days
♦ Hadith attributed to the Prophet salla allahu alayhi was sallam
saying that if a person intentionally breaks fast of Ramadhan they
will never be able to make it up and Allah will not accept their fasts
is a LIE on the Prophet and is fabricated
Question

What is the situation of the imam who leads Taraweeh and Tahajjud
and makes Witr after both of them?

Answer

♦ The imam who does this knowingly is ignorant and whose no

understanding of this sunnah regarding this ruling
♦ Hadith: reported from Ibn ‘Umar that the Prophet salla allahu alayhi
wa sallam said: Let the witr be the last prayer you pray at night.
[Sahih al Bukhari]
♦ Praying witr twice goes against the sunnah
♦ The imam should delay the witr prayer
♦ The best thing to do is to pray it in the last third of the night
♦ This is what ‘Umar was alluding delaying the salah to when he said
“what a good innovation this is” when describing the taraweeh
prayers1

1
So anyone who introduces a religious ritual and claims it to be part of Islam without having an origin in
Islam, it is a means or deviation and Islam has nothing to do with it, whether in the issues of belief,
utterances, the apparent and hidden thereof (Jami’al-Uloom wal-Hikam pp.223). Such people have no proof
of the claim, there is good Bid’ah other than the statement of ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab when he described the
Taraweeh prayer: “What a good bid’ah this is”.
Question 5

The imam who leads prayer in the masjid close to us is a follower of

Mohammed al-Maghrawi, who is a deviant; however he lengthens the
tahajjud prayer and delays it into the late part of the night. Should we
not pray with him so that his numbers don’t increase or pray behind
him?

Answer

♦ If the person is a takfeeri and follows personalities such as Sayyid

Qutb and his likes then it is better to stay away from him if he is an
extremist
♦ If he simply a follower of the Maghraawi individual and not an
extremist then there is no problem to pray behind him
♦ The tahajjud prayer when it is lengthened and delayed to the last
third of the night in the darkest part of it is the best time to pray
and closer to the sunnah
Question 6

Here in London, we have a takfeeri imam who is an extremist. Should

we pray behind him or is it better to pray at home?

Answer

♦ Pray the wajibaat in the masjid

♦ It is better to stay and pray at home so this inidividuals numbers do
not increase and it seems as though his followers are going up

Question 7

A man who ascribes himself to the salaf here in Saudi Arabia is saying
and posting on various forums that the Tahajjud prayer currently
performed in the Haramayn (two holy mosques) is a bid’ah of Shaykh
Khulayfee and his activities are causing a lot of fitnah in the
community. Is he still a salafi?

They also said that new things took place during the time of the Salafus-Salih who did not object to them,
such as collating the Quraan in one codex, and compiling the collection of ahadith. The answer to this is
that those actions have a base in the Shari’ah (compiling quraaan and ahadeeth and congregational
taraweeh), they are not innovated, while the statement of Umar: “What a good bid’ah this is,” he meant by
the bid’ah only the linguistic meaning of this term, not it’s legal meaning. (…) Taraweeh prayer was
initiatied by the Prophet salla allahu alayhi wa sallam when he performed it along with his Companions for
three nights. But in the fourth night, he did not perform it for fear of it being imposed upon the Muslims as
an obligatory prayer. [The Book of Tawheed compiled by Sh. Saleh al-Fawzan]
Answer

♦ Firstly, this person is an ignorant and foolish person who has bad
manners towards ahlul-3lm (the scholars)
♦ Hadith: Narrated from Aisha: Allah's Apostle offered Witr prayer at
different times of the night at various hours extending (from the
'Isha' prayer) up to the last hour of the night.
♦ All the ahlul-3lm that we know have all been upon this
♦ In the last ten nights there is no denial that they should delay &
elongate the salah
♦ Allah will deal with the transmitter of this question as to the truth or
the falsehood of this claim, we (the shaykh, et. Al) just answer the
question
♦ The statement regarding Abdullah Khulayfee – rahimullah – is
incorrect
♦ Joining the taraweeh with 3sha is fine but delaying it is better
♦ Praying it in congregation is better

Question 8

I missed some nights of taraweeh am I still allowed to attend the du’a

for finishing the Qur’aan?

Answer

♦ Supplication upon completion of the recitation of the Qur’aan is a

du’a that 1000s of imams do but there is no authentic proof to
validate this action
♦ Whoever wants to make people do this should have a daleel or
ijmaa from the Sahaba
♦ They attribute this matter to Anas since he would gather his family
and they would remember Allah
o This attribution to Anas reporting it from the Prophet salla
allahu alayhi wa sallam is incorrect
o This may just be an ijtihad on his part
o Anas never attributed to the Prophet salla allahu alayhi wa
sallam
♦ It is not known that this was done during the salah, there is no proof
and proof is required for this to be legislated
♦ Do not have to pray with imam
♦ The taraweeh is not wajib upon you and to do so is not right

Question 9
Can a woman who cannot pray standing without discomfort due to
pregnancy or sickness, can she start the prayer standing and then
finish sitting? Does she only get half the reward?

Answer

♦ Know that Allah is Compassionate and Lateef (Gentle) towards his

slaves and does not burden them
♦ Proof in many ayat that no soul is burdened beyond its ability
♦ Hadith: ‘Imran ibn Hussain said: “I had piles [hemorrhoids],
so I asked the Prophet about the prayer and he said: ‘Offer
the salah while standing and if you cannot do so, pray while
sitting, and if you can’t do that, then make salah while Iying
on your side.”’ This is related by the group, except for
Muslim. An-Nasa’i adds: “And if you cannot offer salah while
lying on your side, then do it while lying on your back. Allah
does not burden a soul, save with what it can bear.”
♦ O my daughter, you are praying sitting due to a hardship so
look to what has already been mentioned
♦ If you can start standing and go in to ruku then raise up
from ruku into sujood then into the second rakat, this is
great
♦ Half of the reward has to do with the nafila
♦ The one who sits while praying without having the need to
only gets half of the reward

Open Session with Al-Allaamah Shaykh Ubayd al-Jabiree

26 Ramadhan 1430-September 16, 2009