What is the ruling on swearing a false oath by the Holy Quran?
Swearing a false oath by the Holy Quran dips the oath-taker in Hellfire, and one who had done so should turn to Allah in repentance, seek His forgiveness, give back rights to whom they belong, and pay the oath expiation.
If a woman becomes pure from menstruation shortly after Fajr in Ramadan, what is required of her?
If a woman becomes pure (from menstrual period) after Fajr, even shortly after, it is recommended (but not obligatory) for her to refrain from eating and drinking for the rest of the day. However, she must make up for that day after Ramadan.
She will be rewarded for both refraining from eating (imsak) and making up the fast (qada) since she was menstruating for part of the day.
Is the multiplication of reward for prayer in the sanctuaries of Makkah and Madīnah limited to the obligatory prayer, or does it include the voluntary prayer as well?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
There is no difference between the obligatory (farḍ) and the voluntary (nafl) prayer in the ḥadīth on the multiplication of reward in the two Sanctuaries (al-Ḥaramayn), because the authentic ḥadīths are unrestricted and general in wording. It is therefore not permissible to restrict or specify them without evidence. Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “Our school holds that the superiority of prayer in the two mosques of Makkah and Madīnah is not limited to the obligatory prayer, but includes both the obligatory and the voluntary.” [al-Majmūʿ Sharḥ al-Muhadhdhab, Vol.8/p.476]
The multiplication of reward applies to whoever prays in al-Masjid al-Ḥarām or anywhere within the sanctuary (ḥaram). Al-Shirwānī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The more correct view according to al-Nawawī is that the multiplication of the prayer’s reward covers the whole sanctuary, and is not limited to the mosque, nor to Makkah itself.” [Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj with the glosses of al-Shirwānī and al-ʿAbbādī, Vol.10/p.95]. And Allah Almighty knows best.
Is it permissible to sleep before the time of the Fajr prayer begins, with the intention of waking up shortly afterward?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is permissible for a Muslim to sleep before the time of the Fajr prayer begins, intending to wake up and perform the prayer, by setting an alarm or asking someone to wake him. What is to be avoided is that a person sleeps while he predominantly assumes that he will not wake up for the prayer.
If he does not wake up until the time of the prayer has ended, he must make it up. It is recommended that he hasten to make it up as soon as he wakes, and likewise recommended that he make up its sunnah along with it.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ by Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him): “Whoever was obliged to pray and did not pray until the time passed must make it up, because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): ‘Whoever sleeps through a prayer or forgets it, let him pray it when he remembers it.’ It is recommended that he make it up immediately, because of the ḥadīth we have mentioned. If he delays it, that is permissible, because it is reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) missed the Fajr prayer and did not pray it until he had left the valley. Had it been required immediately, he would not have delayed it. Abū Is-ḥāq said: If he left it without a valid Sharia excuse, he must make it up immediately, because he was negligent in delaying it.”
It is therefore the duty of every Muslim to keep the prayer in its proper time, seeking help from Allah the Exalted and striving against the self to do so. And Allah Almighty knows best.
