Articles

"From the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque"
Author : Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh
Date Added : 15-04-2018

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Master Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

The place: From the Sacred Mosque in Makkah to the Farthest Mosque in Jerusalem; the first of the two Qiblas and the third of the Harams. The blessed land of Prophets and Messengers (PBUT). Whatever is between the two Mosques, including Jordan, is a blessed land since Allah, The Almighty, Said (What means): "whose precincts We did bless" [Al-isra`/1]. The sanctity of this place has joined the two Mosques for a divine wisdom, and that is warning and awakening the Muslim Ummah from the state of inadvertence that it has been going through. This is in order for the Farthest Mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa) to remain alive in the heart and conscience of every Muslim so that it continues to be an integral part of his/her creed. Thus, whenever they turn to the Sacred Mosque in prayer, they remember their first Qibla (Al-Aqsa Mosque) and the place from where their Prophet (PBUH) had embarked on his nocturnal journey. This will eventually drive them to liberate it from the yoke of the Jewish occupation. This was manifested in Saladin`s capture of the city of Jerusalem. With Allah`s permission, Al-Aqsa Mosque will be restored and the Muslim Ummah will keep trying to achieve that no matter how costly the price will be. This deep belief in Al-Aqsa can`t be shaken by any international resolution. It is simply recharged whenever the verse (What means): "Glory to (God) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless," [Al-Isra`/1] is recited.

 

At the night of Isra`, belief was manifested in its purest forms for the Prophet (PBUH) has chosen the natural thing. He (PBUH) said: "I entered the mosque and prayed two Rak'ahs in it, and then came out and Gabriel brought me a vessel of wine and a vessel of milk. I chose the milk, and Gabriel said: You have chosen the natural thing." [Moslim]. Choosing milk over wine proves that Islam was the natural thing because it indicates righteousness. Milk is a delicious drink for the drinkers, and so is Islam.

 

At the mosque, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) led other prophets in prayer to establish the oneness of God for he (PBUH) is the Master and the leader of the Prophets. Abu Hurairah (May Allah Be Pleased with him) reported the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) as saying: "I shall be pre-eminent among the descendants of Adam, the first from whom the earth will be cleft open the first intercessor, and the first whose intercession will be accepted." [Moslim]. This reflects that the Muslim Ummah has been entrusted with leading humanity and will always be.

 

Anas Bin Malik and Ibn Hazm said: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: 'Allah, The Almighty and Sublime, enjoined fifty prayers upon my Ummah, and I came back with that until I passed by Musa, peace be upon him, who said: 'What has your Lord enjoined upon your Ummah?' I said: 'He has enjoined fifty prayers on them.' Musa said to me: 'Go back to your Lord, the Mighty and Sublime, for your Ummah will not be able to do that.' So I went back to my Lord, the Mighty and Sublime, and He reduced a portion of it. Then I came back to Musa and told him, and he said: "Go back to you Lord, for your Ummah will not be able to do that.' So I went back to my Lord, the Mighty and Sublime, and He said: 'They are five (prayers) but they are fifty (in reward), and the Word that comes from Me cannot be changed." [1] I came back to Musa and he said: "Go back to your Lord.' I said: 'I feel too shy before my Lord, the Mighty and Sublime." [Agreed upon].

 

 This is how obligatory prayer was directly prescribed by Allah, The Exalted, to be the backbone of religion and the beginning of the acts of worship and the rope between the slave and his Lord. 

 

However, in the morning after Isra`, people were divided into two groups. One believed what the Prophet (PBUH) had gone through, but the other didn`t, and so disbelieved. In simple words, this event distinguished the pure from the impure.

 

 I pray that Allah, The Almighty, makes this anniversary an incentive for the Muslim Ummah to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque, and I also pray that He blesses Jordan with safety and stability along with the rest of the Islamic countries. And all perfect praise be to The Lord of The Worlds.

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Which is more excellent for a woman: to pray in the mosque or in her house?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Our Master the Prophet ﷺ said: 'It is more excellent for a woman to pray in her house than in her courtyard, and more excellent for her to pray in her private chamber than in her house.' Therefore, a woman’s adherence to her home and her refraining from going to the mosques—in obedience to the command of Allah the Exalted—attains a great reward and abundant recompense. Furthermore, women praying in congregation within their homes is better than their attendance at the mosques, based on the aforementioned Hadith. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on the prayer of zawal?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is recommended (sunnah) to pray four rakʿāt — either with a single tasleem or as two separate sets of two rakʿāt — immediately following the sun's decline from its zenith (zawāl). This prayer is distinct from the regular Sunnah prayer of Ẓuhr (sunnat al-ẓuhr al-rātibah), as explicitly stated by the Shāfiʿī jurists.
It is mentioned in Nihāyat al-Muḥtāj: "The prayer of zawāl is offered after the sun's decline — so were one to perform it before that, it would not count. It consists of two or four rakʿāt and is distinct from the Sunnah of Ẓuhr, as is evident from the fact that it is mentioned separately after the regular Sunnah prayers, and it becomes a make-up prayer (qaḍāʾ) if a long period of time passes by customary reckoning... Al-ʿAlqamī stated: 'Scholars refer to this as the Sunnah of Zawāl, and it is distinct from the four rakʿāt that constitute the Sunnah of Ẓuhr.' Our shaykh said: Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-ʿIrāqī stated that among those who explicitly affirmed its recommendation was al-Ghazālī in al-Iḥyāʾ, in the chapter on devotional litanies, noting that there is no tasleem between them — meaning there is no break between each pair of rakʿāt."
The time of the sun's decline (zawāl) marks the very beginning of the time for the Ẓuhr prayer.
And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What should one do if they see someone deliberately eating or drinking openly during Ramadan?

They must enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. If they fear harm from that person, they should disapprove of it in their heart but avoid sitting with them if possible. It is also preferable to seek the help of the authorities to prevent them from doing so.

Is it obligatory to make up all missed prayers?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Making up missed prayers (qaḍāʾ) is a sharʿī obligation, established by the practice of the Prophet ﷺ himself — when the disbelievers preoccupied him on the Day of the Trench and he missed the ʿAṣr prayer, he made it up afterward. This is further affirmed by the ḥadīth: "Fulfil what you owe to Allah, for Allah is most deserving of being fulfilled." (Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
Accordingly, a person who has missed prayers should set aside his voluntary and Sunnah prayers and replace them with make-up prayers in their stead. There is no objection to making up one missed prayer alongside each obligatory prayer that is performed — praying the equivalent missed prayer together with each current obligatory prayer as a practical and manageable way of gradually clearing one's debt of missed prayers. And Allah the Almighty knows best.