Your Questions Answered (volume 7)

Q. 60: Ladies To Supervise Children's Procession

A procession of small children was taken out in the car park of the mosque and a few ladies assisted thesk children. Ali these ladies were in proper hijab. To this the Jamaat had agreed. Was it lawful, according to the shari'ah, for these ladies to be out in the car park to supervise the children's procession?

A: If all conditions of hijab were observed then it was certainly lawful, according to shari'ah for the ladies to be out in the car park.

Q. 61: WHY WE DO NOT WASH FEET IN WUDHU

Allah the Almighty has prescribed the way wudhu should be done. He says: "O ye who believe! When ye prepare for prayer, wash your faces, and your hands (and arms) to the elbows: rub your heads (with water): and (wash) your feet to the ankles." (5:6).

Why are we Shi'as doing the other way completely different from that shown by Allah? A: I do not know from where you have taken this translation. However, it needs not much intelligence to realize that the words given within the brackets are not in the original Arabic. Also if you look at the Arabic column on the right side, you will see that there is no punctuation mark from the beginning of the verse till it comes to the words, (i.e. to the ankles).

Now read the translation omitting the words in brackets and ignoring the arbitrary punctuation marks. You will find:

"O you who believe! when you prepare (actual trans: rise up) for prayer wash your faces and your hands to (or. as far as) the elbows and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles."

Grammatically our stand is so clear that the famous Sunni scholar, Imam Fakhruddin Razi has written in his Tafsir Kabir under this verse that the Arabic grammatical rules support the wiping (mas-h) of feet. Also you are advised to read answer to the Question 69 in Your Questions Answered, Vol.6, where more detail is given.

Q.62: TAKING HELP IN WUDHU:

Is a 2nd person allowed to help one in doing wudhu e.g. giving him water in his hand from a jug/cup whatever it be, or one should do this job by himself?

A: One of the conditions of wudhu is that the person concerned should do it himself/herself. If another person washes his face or hand, for example, or joins him in such washing, the wudhu will be batil (Of course, if one cannot do wudhu by himself, then taking others' help is OK.)

As for the situation given in your question, all I can say is that it is very undesirable. Once Imam Ridha (a.s.) saw Mamun Rashid doing wudhu in the same way (His servant was pouring water on his hand) The Imam (a.s.) at once admonished him not to do so, and recited the last verse of the chapter Al-Kahf:...he should not join any one in the worship of his Lord. (18:110).

Q. 63: MENOPAUSE:

I am 50 years old and I am still getting my monthly period every month. For the first 5 days I get a few drops only; from 5th to 10th or 15th days I get heavy bleeding which has the signs of haez. I have read masael of lmam-Khui & Imam Seestani also, but I am still confused. Please help. Shall I consider the whole period as istehaza, and perform my Namaz as usual. As I heard that women after 50 years, are having istehaza only.

A: According to Ayatullah Sistani, the age of menopause is 60 years. But, as a matter of Ihtiyat, between the age of 50 and 60, non-Qurayshi women (like you) should perform wajibat of Istihaza and abstain from the things which are haram during monthly period. It means that you will do wuzu or ghuls (or tayammum if ghusl is not possible or is harmful) as a woman in Istihaza is required to do and then pray your namaz and keep fast.

But at the same time you will not do anything which a woman in haiz condition is not allowed to do, i.e., you should not recite those Qur'anic verses in which sajdah is wajib, should not touch the names of Allah, and Ma'sumeen nor the writing of the Qur'an. Nor should you enter any mosque or put anything in it even from outside.

If for two consecutive months you have seen blood as you have mentioned, then during the first five days, you will treat it as istihaza Qalila (without any need to follow the above- mentioned Ihitayat.) For the later days when it has the signs of haiz blood, you will follow the above rule of Ihtiyat.

Q. 64: DID THE PROPHET RECITE SALAWAT IN TASHAHHUD

I was recently asked how is it that we ask for peace and blessing of Allah Ta'ala to be upon Muhammad and his Household (s.a.w.a.) when we are to assume that he never said this in prayer?

A: It is wrong to say that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) never recited the salawat in the prayer. The prayer was taught to the Muslims by the Prophet himself, who used to say: Pray as you see me praying. And in this process he used the same wordings which his ummah was expected to say.

For example, Ibn 'Abbas reports the wordings of tashahhud as recited by the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) that he used to say, inter alia, "Peace be on you, O Prophet! and mercy of Allah and His blessings." Mark that he said "on you" (not on me) and addressed himself saying, 'O Prophet! (Sahih Muslim, vol.2 p, 15; Imam ash-Safi'i, Kitab al-Umm, vol. 1, p, 140, Beirut, 1403/1983).

The companion, Ka'b ibn 'Ujrah, reports about the Prophet (s.a.w.a) that he used to recite in the prayer: 'O Allah! send Your mercy to Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad as You sent mercy to Ibrahim and the progeny of Ibrahim, and send Your blessings to Muhammad and the progeny of Muhammad as You sent blessings to Ibrahim and the progeny of Ibrahim; surely You are Praiseworthy and Glorious." (Kitab al-Umm. vol. 1, p. 140).

Thus you see that the salawat and tahiyyat were being recited by the Holy Prophet himself.

It is not unlike surah Al-Fatihah, where Allah^raises Himself and declares, "Thee alone do we worship and from Thee alone do we seek help." All this was done to teach the Muslims how to talk to Allah.

Q. 65: THE BASIS OF OUR PRAYER'S METHOD:

Why, based on Qur'an and or hadith, do we as Shia pray as we do?

A: It is not possible to write here reason of every action of prayer in which we differ from our Sunni brothers. In short, you may rest assured that our prayers are 100% based on the Qur'an and the ahadith of the 14 Ma'sums (a.s.). For example, our 6th Imam, Ja'far as Sadiq (a.s.) once prayed 2 rak'ah prayer in order to show one of his companions, Hammad ibn 'Isa, how to pray. Hammad later narrated the whole episode in full detail. But even that tradition is too lohg to be translated in this short letter. However, our prayer fits that description perfectly.

Q. 66: HOW TO STAND IN JAMA 'AT PRAYER

Are we to stand in prayer shoulder to shoulder and toe to toe or just shoulder to shoulder? Please explain. A: It is emphasized that we should stand in a straight line without leaving any gap between two persons. Although there shall be no trouble even if there is a small gap, let us say, about a foot and a half. But standing together without any gap is ideal.

When you stand at the side of another man, naturally you will stand shoulder to shoulder. But how can you stand at the same time "toe to toe"? Islam is a natural religion; you are required to stand in a natural way, and that is all.

Q. 67: 'AMAMAH & 'ABA IN PRAYERS:

We find in the English version of the masa'il of Ayatullah Sistani that wearing turban (amama) alongwith its final fold passed under the chin, and an 'aba on the shoulder is mustahab during prayer. It is claimed by some people that such dresses are meant for 'ulama only; others are not allowed to wear them. Please clarify this matter.

A: It is mustahab in itself for all males to wear 'amama and 'aba in prayer. However, there could be some secondary considerations which might make this rule inoperative. For example, let us say, you are living in a country or society where 'amama or 'aba is not a common dress and is used by only a particular group (like 'ulama').

Now if you, being a non-'alim, are using this dress in prayer outside your home, let us say in masjid, somebody who does not know you might think that you are an imam of jamaat and start his prayer behind you. Obviously it would put him in trouble. Or your friends might think that you were "posing" as an 'alim and subject you to ridicule.

On the other hand, if there is no such danger then the original rule stands that it is mustahab.

In short, in opting for such mustahab rules, one should keep in mind the environment and society norms.

Q. 68: BIHAWLILLAH... LOUDLY OR IN WHISPER?

I ask you about the formula: Bihawlillahi wa Quwwatihi Aqumu wa Aq'ud, whether it should be recited loudly or in whisper?

A: You can recite it any way you like; but it is better to recite it loudly after the rak'ahs in which Surah al-Fatiha and the other Surah are recited loudly, and in whisper in other rak'ahs.

Q. 69: CLAY OF KARBALA AND CURE OF ILLNESS:

It is our belief that the earth of Karbala is blessed and a cure for every illness (Khake shafa). Can you please explain this belief and prove it from authentic sources/references. A: According to well-known and accepted ahadith, Allah bestowed three distinctions to Imam Husayn (a.s.) in this world in appreciation of his willingly accepting the martyrdom.

1. Continuation of Imamat in his progeny,
2. acceptance of du'a under his dome, and
3. shafa, (cure) in his earth.

In this connection, a few points should be made clear:

1. Eating earth is haram; eating the earth of Karbala is the only exception with certain conditions: That the earth should have been taken from its place after certain invocations; a prescribed du'a should be recited before eating it and another du'a after eating it; the amount eaten should be less than a chick-pea (chana), because eating it in a bigger quantity or without urgency is strictly forbidden, and as Imam (a.s.) has said, "it would be like eating our flesh."

2. If Allah has issued a firm decree that a certain person will die on a certain day and time, no du'a or medicine (including Khak-e-Shafa) can postpone his death. For details of firm and conditional decrees, see my book, Justice of God, available from the Mission.