Islam Fundamental Principles and Teachings

On Repentance and Returning To Allah

The prophet is reported as saying, “There is not a day whose dawn break is risen and not a night whose dusk is set except that two angels converse a quartet between themselves, with the first saying:

If only these creature were not created, The other says, now that they are created if only they would do what they were created for,

The other says, or if they do not know what they were created for, if only they act according what they know,

The other says, or if they do not act according to what they know, if only they would repent for what they did”.267 When someone in his presence sought Allah’s forgiveness and said astaghfirullah, Amir al-Mo’mineen responded saying, “may your mother mourn you! Do you know what it means to seek forgiveness from Allah? Seeking forgiveness is a rank of the elite, and it is a name underlying six meanings:

The first is regret over what has occurred, The second is the determination not to ever go back to it, The third is to recompense the right of others so that you meet Allah while being plain without any liability upon you.

Fourth is to fulfil any obligatory duty you have missed. Fifth is to eliminate any flesh that may have nourished and grown through a forbidden [thing] through sorrow feelings until the skin touches the bone, and a new flesh grows in between. 267 Jami‘ al-Sa‘adat, by M. M. Naraqi, vol.3, p37.

The sixth is to make the body taste the pain of obedience just as you made it taste delight of disobedience, and it is then that you may say astaghfirullah.268

In another hadith, it is stated, “he who intends to commit a sin but does not do it [the Lord will not reprimand him] but it may be that the servant commits a sin and the Lord – the Blessed and the Mighty – sees him and says, “By my Might and by my Majesty I shall never forgive you after this”.269

Imam S{a>diq said, “fear the trivial (the dismissed or scoffed at) sins, for they will not be forgiven.” He was asked what are the trivial ones? The Imam said, “That one commits a sin and say, good for me that I do not have [a sin] other than that.”270 Amir al-Mo’mineen peace be upon him, said, “the most severe sin is that that one takes lightly”.271

Imam Sadiq said, “No by Allah, Allah will not accept anything of His obedience while [one] persists on anything of His disobediences.”272

On the Night Prayer and its Virtues

There is ardent emphasis on Night Prayer in the narrations reported from the ma‘s}oom imams, peace be upon them. The Night prayer is eleven rak‘ah, eight rak‘ah are the Night prayers, two are al-shaf‘ prayer, and one rak‘ah is al-witr prayer. Every two rak‘ah is performed with one salam with the exception of the witr which is one rak‘ah, with one salam. The time of the night prayer is between midnight and the break of Fajr.

268 Nahj al-Balaghah, p549, hadith #417

269 Wasa>’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.15, p303, Thawa>b al-‘Ama>l, by al-S{adooq, p242.

270 Wasa’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.15, p310

271 Nahj al-Balaghah, p 559, hadith #477

272 Al-Kafi, vol.2, p288, Wasa>’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.15, p337

It is recommended that in each of the two rak‘ah of the first prayer the surah of Tawh}eed is recited thirty times [after al-H{amd], and in the rest of the two rak‘ah prayers, the long surahs are recited such as the Cattle (#6), the Cave (#18), the Prophets (#21), if there is enough time. It is recommended to recite the long surah in the first rak‘ah and a short in the second [in the latter three prayers]. It is recommended to recite [the surahs of] al-Falaq, al-Na>s, and al-Tawh}eed in the al-shaf‘ and al-witr273.

Otherwise one may read al-Tawh}eed in all274.

In the Qunut of al-witr prayer one should pray for forty believers, saying Alla>humma ighfir le ‘so & so’, and instead of ‘so & so’ the name of the individual should be mentioned, [and if one wished to pray for a minor, s/he] should not be counted amongst the forty275. [after that] it is recommended in the Qunut to say istighfa>r seventy times, better still to say it one hundred times. During the saying of the istighfa>r one may keep one’s left hand raised and keep count with the right hand. This istighfa>r is recommended to be as follows:

Astaghfirullaha min jamee‘a dulmi wa jurmi wa israfi fi amri wa atoobo ilayh.

However, it would be sufficient to say Astaghfirulla>ha wa atoobo ilayh.

It is recommended to say seven times ha>dha> maqa>m-ul-‘a>’edhi bika min an-nar.

273 In al-shaf‘ prayer it is recommended to recite al-Na>s [after al-H{amd] in the first rak‘ah, and al-Falaq in the second. In the al-witr prayer, which is one rak‘ah, it is recommended to recite [after al-H{amd] al-Tawh}eed three times and then al- Na>s and al-Falaq, and then go for Qunut.

274 i.e. one may read al-Tawh}eed [once after al-H{amd] in all [eleven rak‘ah of the night prayer].

275 The minors should be prayed for on top of the forty adult individuals. Ed. It is recommended to say three hundred times al-‘Afw, and if one wanted to say them conjointly then it should be pronounced al- ‘Afwa al-‘Afwa . . .

The virtues and merit of the night prayer

Allah Almighty revealed to Moses, “Rise up in the darkness of the night, and make your grave a garden of the gardens of Paradise”.276

Amir al-Mo’mineen said, “The rising of the night gives health to the body”.277

Imam S{a>diq said, “the prayer of the night beautifies the face, beautifies manners, freshens up the breath, increases sustenance, pays the debt, repels sorrows, and strengthens the sight”.278 Imam S{a>diq also said, “he says lies who claims he performs the night prayers while he goes hungry [during the day], for the prayer of night guarantees the sustenance of the day”.279

On Childbirth and Childbearing

The first matter

It is recommended to wash the newborn when it is born, and to recite the adhan in its right ear and the iqa>mah in its left, to do tah}nik, which is to apply water of the Fura>t (the Euphrates) to the upper inside of its mouth280, and to name him on the seventh day. It is recommended to shave the infant’s head on this day and to give to charity the hair’s weight in gold or silver. If he is not

276 Mostadrak al-Wasa’el, vol.6, p331

277 Wasa’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.8, p150, Mostadrak al-Wasa’el, vol.3, p281

278 Wasa’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.8, p152

279 Wasa’el al-Shi‘ah, vol.8, p158

280 Or with the turbah of Imam Hussain peace be upon him. Tahdheeb al-Ah}ka>m, vol.6, p74.

shaved on the seventh day it is no longer mustah}ab. It is also recommended on the seventh day to do aqeeqah using a sheep or a camel – the bigger the better. It is recommended that the midwife is given the entire leg, and if no midwife was involved, the mother is given the share of the midwife and she gives them to whomever she wishes. If the midwife was a Jewess who does not eat the Muslim meat, she is given one-quarter of the price of the sheep.

It is recommended to give some of the meat to charity and cook the rest, and to invite ten of the believer over it, the more the better. It is recommended to circumcise the male infant on the seventh day, and if the father or guardian does not perform the circumcision for him, it becomes mandatory for the boy when he reaches the age of puberty.

It is recommended to recite the following du’a when the circumcision is being performed:

O Allah this is Your Sunnah and the sunnah of your prophet, blessings and peace be upon him and his pure progeny, and [this is] our obedience to You and Your prophet, thorough Your will and Your decree, for a matter that You wanted, a command You have made certain, and a matter that You have executed, so You have made him taste the heat of iron in his circumcision and his h}ija>mah for a reason You know better than me. O Allah purify him from the sins, increase in his lifespan, repel the ills from his physique and the pains from his body, and enhance him in richness and prosperity, and repel poverty from him, for You know and we know not.

It is narrated from Imam Sadiq that it is recommended for the boy to recite this du’a before his adolescence if it were not recited at the time of circumcision, for Allah would repel from the boy the ‘iron heat’ such as being killed.

And if aqeeqah is not performed on the seventh day, it is recommended to perform it as long as he is alive, and even after he dies. It is preferred that the aqeeqah is male for a male and a female for a female, failing that, the male aqeeqah should be used, or just the aqeeqah without any specification. The criteria of the sacrifice [sheep for the hajj] are not required for the aqeeqah [sheep]. And if one cannot find one, should wait [until one finds one], and it is not sufficient to give the price of the aqeeqah to charity.

It is permissible for the parents and other [relatives] to eat from the aqeeqah but it is makrooh, and its severity is greater for the mother, and it is also makrooh for any dependent of the father. It is preferred that the aqeeqah is cut part by part and no bone of is broken. As for burying the bones, there is no evidence for it. It is permissible for the aqeeqah to be cut and gifted to the neighbours and others, but it is preferred to cook it and invite a group of the believers.

The aqeeqah is not specified for the poor, and it may be given to the well off and the Sayyid, even if the aqeeqah is for a non- Sayyid.

If the father does not perform aqeeqah for the child, it is recommended for the child to perform aqeeqah for himself, and the sacrifice [that one performs in the hajj] suffices for the aqeeqah.

If the son lives until after noon of the seventh day, it is recommended to perform the aqeeqah for him, and if he dies before noon of the seventh day, aqeeqah is waived.

The second matter

The best food for the infant is milk, and the best milk for the infant is his mother’s milk, but it is not mandatory – [from religious obligation viewpoint] – for the mother to feed the baby without a wage, and her wage must be met by the father. It is permissible for the mother to accept a wage for feeding the infant, even though it is preferred for her not to. Of course if the father was dead, or was not able to meet the cost, then it is mandatory for the mother to feed the infant. If the child had money, it is permissible for the father to pay the wage from that money, and in that case it is not mandatory for the father to pay the wage.

It is recommended for the mother to feed the child from both breasts every time, and the duration of complete breastfeeding is two years, and it is permissible to reduce it by three months, but it is not permissible to reduce it by more than that except for an exceptional condition. As a precaution, breastfeeding should not exceed the two-year period.

Needless to say, the mother has priority to breastfeed the child during this period, if she willingly opts for that or seeks a wage similar to other [breast-feeders], and it will not be permissible for the father to remove the child from her. If the mother sought a wage higher than others, the father may give the child to others [for breastfeeding].

It is the mother’s right to raise the child during the first two years, if it were male, and seven years in the case of a female, if she was a free, sane, trustworthy Muslim and did not have a husband other than him281. During this period the father may not take the child from her, but after the said period, the right of raising the child is the father’s, and if the father dies, the right goes back to the mother as a precaution, and the guardian may not challenge her. Allah Almighty is the knower.

This is the last of what we wished to briefly mention here about the acclaimed teachings of Islam, namely; the science of Os}ool al- Deen, the science of Foroo’ al-Deen, and the science of Islamic 281 i.e. through remarriage after divorcing from the first husband (who is the father of the child).

Akhla>q and Adab, the learning of which is ‘ayniy282 obligatory for every male and female Muslim, as well as implementing them, and acting upon them, so that we may attain a happy and prosperous life in this world, and win an eternal and everlasting paradise, InSha’Allah [by the will of Allah Almighty] and Allah is the succeeding, the helper.

o-o-o-o-O-o-o-o-o 282 ‘ayniy – or individually – obligatory as opposed to kifa>’i – or collectively – obligatory.