17. Question: I have read in a hadith that when we pass gas during salaah, we leave the prayer, make wudū' and come back and start from where we left off. What do we do when we are praying in congregation as we leave the prayer when we are in ruku' and when we come back they are in sajdah, how do we join the prayer in such a situation?
Answer: With regard to salaah as well as tawaaf, there are two different opinions of the scholars. Some of the scholars have the opinion as was mentioned i.e. when a person breaks his wudū' he goes out and makes wudū' then returns to where he stopped. This is one of the saying, but this opinion is not the best opinion that the 'Ulamaa take.
The majority of the 'Ulamaa say that when you break your wudū' you should go and make wudū' then come back and do the prayer from the beginning as if you hadn't done anything. So, if you are in the Jama'ah you join them where they are and then you do what you missed. Even if you joined them in the beginning and then you left and then returned, what you joined is considered nothing (i.e. the part that you prayed with them before leaving to make wudū'). This is the opinion that most of the Muhaqqiqeen take – that once you break wudū' the whole salaah is invalidated and you have to do it again. Wallaahu A'lam.
As for tawaaf there are two equal opinions. Regarding the salaah one opinion is weaker than the other, as I mentioned. But in tawaaf there are two equal opinions. Some of the scholars say that you return to where you stopped, and some say that you start again. But there is an opinion which some of the 'Ulamaa take, they say that if you break your tawaaf at the Hajr Aswad (Black Stone) i.e. at the beginning of the circuit, then you start from there and if you break anywhere else in the tawaaf then that (circuit) is considered to be invalidated and you start from the beginning. But it is better for you start from the beginning. Allaah won't let your reward be lost as there is no clear evidence for either of the two opinions of the scholars. That is why I say it is better even in tawaaf that you start from the beginning. Wallaahu A'lam.
18. Question: I have been pushed to lead the qiyaam by the Imaam of the masjid for Ramadaan and also for the other salawaat. I do not want to lead the salaah. I am not fit to do so as I don't speak Arabic nor I know much of tajweed. However the majority of the brothers in the masjid do not know tajweed either including the Imaam. Am I permitted to decline or is it proper for me to lead the Salaah?
Answer: Wallaahi yaa Akhi, this brother answered himself. He said in the question that he is the best of the brothers there, even better than the Imaam. So if this is the situation, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
يؤم القوم أقرأهم لكتاب الله
The one who has most Qur'aan is the one who leads the prayer.[49] This is especially as the Imaam, the designated Imaam, is asking you to lead the jama'ah, and the jama'ah wants you to lead the jama'ah, this is a great reward yaa Akhi – lead the jama'ah and start improving yourself in the Arabic language and learning the Qur'aan and tajweed. It seems that you are the best of the brothers there, so you better lead the jama'ah. Wallaahu A'lam.
19. Question: The question is from a brother who is unmarried and has a sister he would like to marry but has not asked for that yet. He cannot seem to stop thinking of her. He thinks of her too much. And because he thinks of her too much when he urinates after waking up in the morning there is a sperm in his urine and he did not ejaculate. So the sperm comes out with his urine. He has two questions here. Is there a sin upon him for thinking about a sister who is not married to her yet? And secondly does he have to do ghusl after urinating and seeing sperm in his urine?
Answer: First of all, thinking of that sister who he is not married to, can lead to a sin. I do not say that it is itself is a sin, because it might be something uncontrollable, but you need to keep yourself busy with the dhikr (remembrance) of Allaah, especially in those cases, you should say:
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
and continue doing dhikr, tasbeeh, istighfar etc.
وَمَنْ ْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَل لَّهُ مَخْرَجًا
{…And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty).} [al-Talaaq 65:2]
My question is: why doesn't he marry that sister if he loves her? If he likes her he should marry her and that will end this kind of fitnah (trial, distress).
The second thing is having sperm come out due to his thinking about her. This means that he is not sleeping; he is awake and has control, so this can be a kind of sin. If this man is married then let him listen to the advice of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who said:
إذا رأى أحدكم من امرأة ما يعجبه فليأتي أهله فإن الذي معها مثل الذي معها
The Prophet said: "if one of you sees a woman and he is attracted to her then let him go to his wife and enjoy her as his wife would have the same thing that that the other woman has."[50] So if you have a wife you don't need to think of that woman, just do a lot of remembrance and seek forgiveness. And when you see any woman, that woman or other than her and you are sexually motivated then go directly to your house and enjoy your wife. By doing that you kill the fitnah of Shaytaan, but if you keep thinking and thinking then one day you will fall into sin.
So my advice to you is first of all, if she is not married then go and ask for her in marriage and if she is married then this is very bad. You need to desist from thinking about her, and even if she is not married you must stop thinking of her and use your mind, your brain in remembering Allaah تعالى. That's my advice to you; and do a lot of remembrance and fear Allaah. Wallaahu A'lam.
20. Question: I was in my menses for 15 days this month and it stopped. I was told that I should have started prayer after 10 days but another sister showed me some daleel that I should have started praying after 15 days. So which one is correct? And also menses began again 6 days after it stopped and I am again not praying. If my menstrual cycle remains this frequent with so little days in between should I just pray? Please help me as I have not prayed most of Ramadaan and I am fearful that I'll miss most of this month because of this erratic cycle.
Answer: First of all, this sister did not clarify if this is her first menses. Did she just reach the age of maturity or has she been having her menses all the time?
If she is a beginner regarding her menses and she doesn't know her period (the duration of her cycle) then we say look around at the women in your family. What is usually the number of days for those with menses in your family? For example, if it is 6 days then you use 6 days, count 6 days from the beginning of the menses and after those 6 days take a shower (ghusl) and consider that you are out of menses, and what remains is Istihaadah (استحاضة – prolonged bleeding between menstrual cycles). Then you must make wudū' for every prayer in its time i.e. for the obligatory prayer, and you can pray with that wudū' the sunnah for that salaah.
In the case where she is not a beginner, then we say that you would already know how many days make up your menses period. Suppose they are 7 or 8, then what exceeds that is considered Istihaadah. So, you take a shower (ghusl) and then make wudū' for every salaah in its time. If this blood returns after 3-4 days as she says, or 6 days, then this would also be Istihaadah.
However, we also need to take into consideration the specifications of the blood i.e. the color, the thickness and the smell. The blood of menses is dark red, very dark red and it is very thick and smelly – it smells bad. So if it has these three (characteristics) then it might be menses and maybe it is extending the time. Some women have menses for 6 or 7 days for a certain number of years and then suddenly it extends from 6 to 10 or 11 days. For the first month she should wait and observe if the characteristics are the same for the blood that continues. If it is then she should wait until the entire 15 days finishes and the next month she looks, and if it's the same thing then maybe it is a correcting of the period of the menses of that woman. If the third month it is the same, then it is regularly going to be the same. But if one month it is 15 days, the second month 8 days and the third month 10 days, then we say look to your old menses days and take the number, consider that this is the number of days of your menses. Once this number is passed take a shower (ghusl) and this (the remainder) will be your Istihaadah and you can pray but you must make wudū' for every prayer, and you can fast. And if you have a husband he can enjoy you. Wallaahu A'lam.
21. Question: A brother and I had some work doing and the money was to be divided equally. The brother started the work and went ahead and he didn't inform me that he had gone ahead and started the job. I arrived 2 days later to find that 85% of the job was completed and I asked him why he worked. He said that he needed the money and he started the job. And then I told him to finish the job and I paid him the money. The question is was I still due half of the money as was agreed upon at the beginning?
Answer: No, as long as the agreement was that you both would start the job together and the profit would be divided in half between both of you, or any certain percentage, it should adhere to the agreement as he is the one who did not stick to the agreement and started earlier without informing you. So he is the one who caused that and that is why he needs to share (the money). He needs to divide it the same way you agreed upon. He cannot give you a little, or (a proportion) from the time you started. No, he is the one who did not stick to the agreement, he is the one who did not call you so he is the cause of this mess and he has to divide between you both, whatever profit he got from the time he worked without you. Wallaahu A'lam.
