Beneficial Knowledge

Praise be to Allaah. Firstly:  The situation you are in does not only have to do with praying in the mosque, rather it has to do with other duties which require you to go out of the house, such as upholding ties of kinship, earning money so that you can live, seeking knowledge, enjoining what is good, forbidding what is evil, and so on.  Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said:  The fact of the matter is that mixing may sometimes be obligatory or mustahabb. An individual may be enjoined to mix with others sometimes and to remain alone sometimes. That depends on the purpose. If mixing with others is for the purpose of cooperating in righteousness and piety, then it is enjoined; but if it is for the purpose of cooperating in sin and transgression, then it is forbidden. Mixing with Muslims is a kind of worship, as in the case of the five daily prayers, Jumu’ah, Eid, eclipse prayers, prayers for rain and so on. This is something that Allah an...

Praise be to Allaah. Firstly:  The depression that people feel may be a sickness that needs to be treated and needs referral to specialists; or it may be feelings of distress that may be relieved by doing a lot of acts of worship, remembering Allah, keeping company with good and righteous friends, and keeping busy with beneficial actions. For more information on that please see the answer to questions number  22704 ,  21515  and 100774 .  Whatever the case, Allah has not sent down any disease but He has sent down a cure for it, and there is a remedy for this depression no matter what type it is. The believer should adorn himself with patience and certainty of faith, and he should turn to Allah a great deal and ask of Him, because the keys to goodness are in His hand. How many believing men and women have patiently borne a sickness or calamity or imprisonment, without feeling the need to commit a haraam action. This is the action of people who are discon...

Praise be to Allaah.   Perhaps your forgetfulness – or your weak memory – is a result of giving birth, as your doctor said. This is not something to worry about. Or this forgetfulness may be caused by sin, because sins result in punishments that affect the heart and the body. Imaam Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) mentioned more than sixty punishments for sin in his book  al-Daa’ wa’l-Dawa’ .  So if a person feels that he is losing some blessing, he should hasten to repent to Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):  “That is so because Allaah will never change a grace which He has bestowed on a people until they change what is in their ownselves” [al-Anfaal 8:53]   If a person makes a promise then forgets it unintentionally, there is no sin on him, because Allaah has forgiven this ummah for what they forget, as is indicated by the texts. For example, the last two verses of Soorat al-Baqarah (interpretation of the meaning):...

Praise be to Allaah.   What the Muslim should do is refrain from bearing any hatred or resentment in his heart towards his fellow Muslim. Allaah says of His believing slaves (interpretation of the meaning):  “And those who came after them say: Our Lord! Forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in Faith, and put not in our hearts any hatred against those who have believed. Our Lord! You are indeed full of kindness, Most Merciful” [al-Hashr 59:10]   According to a hadeeth narrated by Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him), the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Do not hate one another, do not envy one another, do not turn your backs on one another, and be, O slaves of Allaah, brothers. It is not permissible for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three days.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5718; Muslim, 2559.  Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr said: His saying “Do not hate one another” is a prohibition which is aimed at encoura...

Praise be to Allaah.   The issue of dealing with anger has already been discussed. Please see question no.  658 . Means of dealing with anger include the following:  ·        Seeking refuge with Allaah from the accursed Shaytaan. ·        Keeping quiet. ·        Calming down; if you are standing, you should sit down; if you are sitting, you should lie down. ·        Remembering the reward for restraining anger, as it says in the saheeh hadeeth (authentic prophetic narration): “Do not get angry and Paradise will be yours.” ·        Understanding the high status of one who controls himself, as it says in the saheeh hadeeth: “Whoever restrains his anger, Allaah will cover his faults. Whoever controls his fury – even if he is able to show it – Allaah will fill his heart with hope on the Da...

Praise be to Allaah.   My dear brother, how often we fail to look at things with a balanced view. How often we find problems in our daily lives that stem from the extremes of either concern or negligence. The one who seeks happiness and success in this world has to have a balanced approach without letting the one outweigh the other. In this manner he can strengthen his heart with faith and find peace of mind in doing that which he is required to do. What you are complaining of does not stem from ignorance of the root of the matter, rather it stems from the fact that you are focusing more on fear and the causes of fear and you are forgetting about being optimistic and not paying any attention to it.  You know that death is an inevitable reality that will come to every living thing, and no one will be spared that, no matter how noble his status before Allaah. Allaah said to His Prophet, the noblest of all creation (interpretation of the meaning):  “Verily, you (O M...

Praise be to Allaah.   One of the means that the Shaytaan uses to misguide people is by casting doubts and whispers (waswaas) into their hearts. The Messenger of Allaah peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) has warned us against some of these things. It says in the hadeeth: “The Shaytaan comes to any one of you and says, ‘Who created such and such? Who created such and such?’ until he says, ‘Who created your Lord?’ If that happens to you, seek refuge with Allaah and give up these thoughts.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, no. 3277  The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) taught us two important things:  1 – To turn to Allaah and seek His protection, and to beseech Him, for He is the most Generous:  “And if an evil whisper comes to you from Shaytaan (Satan), then seek refuge with Allaah” [al-A’raaf 7:200 – interpretation of the meaning]   2 – To put a stop to this matter and turn away from it, and to keep ourselves busy with other, us...

Praise be to Allaah.   There is nothing wrong with treating the diseases that befall a person, and this is not forbidden. But that is subject to the condition that the treatment does not cause side effects which are worse than the problem itself.  We advise the one who is sick – whether that is spiritual (mental) illness such as anxiety and depression, or physical illness such as various kinds of pain – to hasten first of all to treat the problem with ruqyah as prescribed in sharee’ah. This means verses and ahaadeeth which are recommended in sharee’ah and in which the texts state there is healing for diseases.  Then we advise treating it with natural materials which Allaah has created, such as honey and plants, for Allaah has created special properties in them which may treat many kinds of diseases, and at the same time they do not have any side effects on the one who takes them.  We think that you should not take artificial chemical remedies for anxiety. ...