Sowing Discord Between People. Q.1. Could you please explain the Islamic view about those spreading tales against people so as to cause problems between them. Q.2. Some people suggest that for a woman to darken her eyebrows with a pencil is forbidden in the same way as thinning her eyebrows. Please comment. A.1. Backbiting is strongly forbidden, as it is universally known. God says in the Qur’an: “And do not spy on one another, nor backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Surely you would loathe it.” (49: 12) This horrid picture is drawn in the Qur’an for someone who is guilty of backbiting, which is defined in Islam as “saying about someone in his absence what he dislikes to be said about him.” This applies even if what is being said is true. The very fact that he is absent and people say about him things that he dislikes to be talked about is backbiting, and falls within what is described in the Qur’an as “eating the flesh of one’s dead brother.” A similar social evil is to spread defamatory tales about other people. This is what happens when someone tells another a tale about a third person who is known to both. This is shown in the Qur’an as repugnant. It occurs within the denunciation of a particular person who took a hostile attitude to Islam and the Prophet. Exposing his character, the Qur’an mentions this action of his as a most horrid one: “Do not pay any respect to the contemptible swearer of oaths, the slanderer who goes about with defaming tales, the withholder of good, the sinful aggressor, cruel, possessed by greed...” (68: 10-13) It is clear that the person concerned had had a very abominable character. One of his qualities was to carry such tales. In order to describe how repugnant this quality is we may mention that the Prophet once passed by two graves, and he placed some green branches on them. He told his companions who were with him that the two people buried there were suffering torment. He said that the reason for punishing one of them was that he used to spread defamatory tales about his fellow men. People often ask about the punishment that a certain sin incurs. We cannot specify unless there is some text to outline it. However, we can say that such a person commits a sin against society in addition to his slandering of particular people. Thus his sin will not be forgiven by God unless the people against whom he spread such tales forgive him. On the Day of Judgment he will be brought face to face with them, and they will be given some of his deeds in lieu of the injury he caused them. If he does not have sufficient good deeds to compensate them, he is made to bear some of their bad deed, which are then removed from them and added against him. Therefore, people should guard against doing any such action by avoiding speaking ill about anyone in their absence. If one knows some defect in a person’s character, or of a bad deed that person has committed, he should keep it secret. He is rewarded for that. A.2. Darkening one’s eyebrows is not in any way similar to thinning them or changing their shape as women do these days. When a woman uses a cosmetic pencil for this purpose, the result is clear. There is no deception in what she does. She does not change the way God has created her. She is only using some temporary coloring, and this is permissible, unless she does it with the intention of attracting men’s eyes. In this case, it is the intention that makes the difference. Covering Head in Prayers. Q. People in Saudi Arabia offer their prayers in mosques without covering their heads, and they may also wear trousers covering their ankles. Such practices are strongly shunned in other country. Which is correct? A. There is no requirement, or recommendation, to cover one’s head in prayer. This is a question of tradition. The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not give instructions on this point. As for covering the ankles, this is a misunderstood point. During the Prophet’s lifetime, a person who wore long robes, covering his ankles, or touching the ground, did so as a gesture of arrogance, pressing the point that he was rich. The Prophet spoke strongly against this, but in his Hadiths he always mentioned that doing so in a gesture of arrogance is forbidden. This means that when arrogance is intended then the action is forbidden. We understand this from an authentic Hadith which states this prohibition but goes on to say that Abu Bakr said to the Prophet: ‘My robe often drops on one side.’ The Prophet said to him: ‘But you do not do this in a gesture of arrogance.’ When we consider people’s clothes these days, we find that a large proportion of Muslims wear trousers which go down to their feet. Yet the thought of arrogance is never entertained by anyone who wears trousers or anyone who sees such a person. It is a normal type of clothes that is very common. Hence, it does not come under the prohibition. Those who advise people to turn the bottom of their trousers up to leave them hanging above the ankles overlook the element of arrogance intended by the Prophet. They take that any covering of the ankles is forbidden, which is not so. They themselves do not advise against wearing socks in prayer, which again cover the ankles. Restrictions During a Widow’s Mourning. Q. Could you please explain what restrictions apply to a woman after the death of her husband? In my hometown in India, a woman in this situation is told to stay in one room in her home, not leaving the house at all, and to wear only white garments, and not to use any jewelry. What is the Islamic view on this? Could you also explain what should be done when a person is clearly about to die. A. When a woman becomes a widow, she has to observe certain rules. The first and most important one is that she has to observe a waiting period lasting normally for four months and ten days, unless she is pregnant, when her waiting lasts until she gives birth, whether this happens earlier or later than the normal time. During this period, a widow resides in her home, which is her deceased husband’s home. She is not allowed to get married again until her waiting period is over. She stays at home unless she needs to go out to work or to manage her affairs, but she must stay at night in her home. She does not wear perfume and must avoid using make up, jewelry or clothes that are intended for giving her an especially attractive appearance. There is no restriction on color except in this way. Unfortunately, traditions in different countries have imposed other restrictions which Islam does not require. One of these is the color of clothes she is allowed to wear. In your part of the world, it is white while in some Arab countries it is black. Any normal color, which is not meant to be eye-catching, is appropriate. In most Muslim countries, restrictions on a widow’s going out are made very strict, with some communities not allowing the woman anywhere in her home except one room. This is not the Islamic way. A widow asked the Prophet whether she could attend to her farm, because her relatives would not allow her to do so. The Prophet told her to attend to it, for ‘you might give something to charity or do something good.’ When a person is clearly about to die, some of his relatives should stay with him, reading Surah 36, Ya Seen, or other parts of the Qur’an. One of them should tell him to say: La ilaha illa Allah, which means “There is no deity other than God,” making it the last thing that person says. In other words, if he says it once, then he says something else, such as requesting a glass of water or something else, then he should be reminded to say it again. People should pray for the dying person so that God may lighten his pain and make his passage into the next life easy. Is Life Cut Short by Committing Sin? Q. Could you please explain whether a man’s life may be cut short, so as to let him die before the time originally determined by God. I heard that this happens in three situations: 1) If he vows never to repeat a sin he has made, yet he repeats it; 2) If his wife angers her mother and the mother prays God to take the daughter’s strongest support; and 3) If he breaks his wife’s heart without reasonable cause. Please comment. The important point to realize in considering this question relates to God’s knowledge. We have to remember that His knowledge is perfect. He knows everything regardless of time. So, something that has not happened yet is known to Him in the same way as something that has just happened a moment ago, or one that took place a million years ago. To God, it is all the same. Hence, when He determines the duration of anyone’s life, He is aware of everything that takes place in that person’s life before he or she is born. This means that God knows in advance whether this person will not be true to his vows, or whether he abuses his wife causing her great mental or physical pain, or whether his mother-in-law will pray God to punish his wife. When we consider all this we realize that the whole point of cutting a certain person’s life short as a result of an event collapses. We have to remember that this life is a test and everyone proves himself as worthy of reward or punishment. So, in the first example, a person who repeatedly breaks His promise to God is saved from a repeat if his life is ended. It can be argued that his immediate punishment should be to prolong his life so as to let him do more sins, thus increasing his punishment in the life to come. From another point of view, why would God end someone’s life as a result of his repeated sins when our sins do not affect God in the least. He says in a sacred Hadith: “Had the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you been as wicked as the most wicked person ever, this would not decrease My kingdom in anyway.” The second example is even more ridiculous, because it supposes that God will punish a woman by taking her husband away as a result of her mother’s prayer. If this is a punishment to the man, he was not the guilty party. If it is to the woman, why her husband should be affected? The whole point does not stand. If a man abuses his wife and she prays God against him, God may answer her prayers immediately, or He may defer that. But this again would not be shortening the man’s life, as God might have originally decided that He would end the man’s life as a result of her prayer. Having said all this, I wish to remind you that God’s will is free. He may decide at any time to change something, or to bring something into being at any time of His choosing. For your information only:- 1.Brother and Sisters,Ramadan would soon be upon us,infact Allah willing,we may start on the 15th October,provided the moon is cited on that day,so please do not forget to add a little bit extra on the monthly allowance you send to your loved ones back home.May Allah Sunhanahu Wa Ta'ala reward us all for our good deeds.Amin. 2.Grand Mufti Slams Trading in Camera Cell Phones. JEDDAH, 30 September 2004 — The grand mufti has condemned as un-Islamic trading in camera-equipped mobile phones which can take “illicit” pictures, Al-Madinah newspaper reported yesterday. Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh said such phones “could be exploited to photograph and spread vice in the community.” The denunciation came amid reports that there is no judicial law in the Kingdom that bans the lawful use of or trading in such phones. Local newspapers quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman as saying that police are more concerned about how camera-equipped mobile phones are being used than whether someone owns it or not. He said restrictions on such phones at private functions such as those held in exhibition halls are the responsibility of the organizers of such events. Camera-equipped mobile phones are apparently widely used in the Kingdom and are often the center of controversy. Two Saudi women were badly beaten by other female guests at a wedding party earlier this month when they were seen using a mobile phone to photograph the segregated celebration. In July, two young men were arrested for orchestrating and filming a sexual assault on a 17-year-old girl by a Nigerian driver. The footage was widely circulated through a camera-equipped mobile. ____________________________________________________________ Too much spam in your inbox? Yahoo! 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