Most of the following information has been translated from Durr-ul-mukhtār, and from its explanation Radd-ul-muhtār.
The mekrūhs of namāz are of two kinds. When used alone, the word mekrūh
means Tahrīmī mekrūh, which is a
prohibition that has been determined by dalīl (proof) or deduction (zann).
Something for whose prohibition there is no proof or witness but which it is
good not to do is called Tanzīhī mekrūh.
It is (Tahrīmī) mekrūh not to do the wājibs [and the muakkad sunnats] and
(tanzīhī) mekrūh not to do the [sunnats that are not muakkad] in namāz. Tanzīhī
mekrūh is closer to halāl and Tahrīmī mekrūh is closer to harām. Though the namāz
performed with mekrūhs is sahīh, it will not be accepted (maqbūl), that is, one
will not receive the blessings promised. Below are the forty-four mekrūhs of
namāz:
1 - It is mekrūh to drape your coat over your shoulders instead of
putting it on. It is not mekrūh to leave the front of your coat open or shut.
2 - When prostrating for the sajda, it is mekrūh to pull up your skirts
or your trouser cuffs.
3 - It is mekrūh to begin namāz with your skirts or sleeves rolled up.
If you made an ablution in a hurry in order to catch the imām and as a result
left them rolled up, you should unroll them slowly during namāz. Likewise, if a
persons headgear falls off as he performs namāz, he had better put it back on
his head. [Therefore, it is mekrūh to begin namāz with short sleeves that only
go down to the elbows, with a flannel, or with short trousers that are just
below the knees. It is wrong to say: It is mekrūh to perform namāz with a
shirt with long sleeves that are rolled up, but it is not mekrūh with a short
sleeved shirt. Every fiqh book refers to: rolled-up skirts and sleeves. A
skirt is not rolled up. But it is lifted up so as to uncover the legs. The book
Nimat-i islām says concerning the
eleventh of the mekrūhs of namāz: It is mekrūh for a man to begin namāz with
bare arms. Also, it is written on the two hundred and sixty-eighth page of the
book Marifatnāma that it is mekrūh to
perform namāz with bare arms]. Sleeves that are above the elbows are even
worse. If a person rolls up his trousers or sleeves during namāz, his namāz
becomes nullified.
4 - Useless movements, such as playing with your clothes, are mekrūh.
But useful movements do not bring harm upon your
namāz, e.g. wiping the sweat off your
forehead with your hand. When your trousers or loose robe stick on your skin,
it is not mekrūh to pull them away from your skin lest the shape of your awrat
parts are seen. It is mekrūh to shake off dust. There is a hadīth prohibiting
useless movements in namāz and laughing loudly in a cemetery. It is not useless
to scratch yourself during namāz, but raising your hand three times within one
rukn nullifies your namāz.
5 - It is mekruh to perform namāz by wearing clothes that you work in
or that you could not wear if you were to see your superiors. Yet it is not
mekrūh if you have no other clothes. [If you have enough money you should buy
extra clothes.] It is not mekrūh to perform namāz by wearing pyjamas or any
other clothing that you wear when going to bed.
6 - It is mekrūh to have something in your mouth that will prevent you
from reciting the Qurān al-kerīm
correctly. If it prevents you from pronouncing the Qurān correctly your namāz
becomes nullified.
7 - To perform namāz bare-headed. If a person does not cover his head
because he slights the importance of covering his head in namāz, it is mekrūh.
But if he ignores it because he means to slight namāz itself, he becomes a
disbeliever. Kasal (indolence) means not to do something because one does not
want to do it. But inability means not to do something because one cannot do it
though one wants to do it. If ones headgear falls, it is recommendable to put
it back on ones head with a single action. There is no harm in performing
namāz bare-headed in order to show your humbleness, yet you still had better
cover your head. It is also mekrūh to uncover your head seeking comfort and
relief from heat. [You can cover your head with a headgear of any colour when
performing namāz. Books of dīn do not contain any statements concerning black
headgear being worn by Jews in synagogues. It is sunnat to wear a black
headgear. See chapter 8!]
[Rasūlullah and the Sahāba performed namāz with their blessed nals
[pattens] on. Nals are shoes with leather soles. It is written in the book Terghīb-us-salāt: It has been said by savants
that a person sitting in namāz barefooted, without socks on, should use his
right hand to cover the sole of his foot. For it is bad manners to show your
soles to other Believers at any time. Żn
namāz it is even more distasteful. According
to some other savants, one must not cover ones bare foot with ones hand
during namāz. For it is sunnat to put ones hands on ones thighs when sitting
in namāz. And the person sitting behind you, in turn, should look down at his
own lap in adherence to the sunnat. When both individuals sit in accordance
with the sunnat no bad manners will occur. As it can be seen, even according
to those savants who say that one should not cover ones foot with ones hand
when sitting, being barefooted is repugnant. Since it is mekrūh to take ones
hands away from ones thighs while sitting, one should not commit a second
mekrūh in order to make up for the mekrūh of being bare-footed. Savants have
said that if the person behind you looks at his lap, in regards to him you will
become secure against annoying the person sitting behind you. As written in Halabī kabīr, it is mekrūh not to keep the hands
in the position of the sunnat when standing, in the rukū, in the sajdas, and
when sitting. And it is for this reason that it is written: It is makrūh to
omit a wājib or a sunnat. Therefore it is mekrūh for men to cover their bare
feet with their hand while in the sajda, in the beginning of the mekrūhs of
namāz in the book Marāq-il-falāh and at
the end of the mekrūhs in Halabī. The
book Bahjat-ul-fatāwā, which
corroborates its every fatwā with proofs from books of fiqh, has been unable to
provide any proof for this wrong fatwā and has left the space for a proof
blank. Ibni Ābidīn says at the end of
the mekrūhs of namāz: It is better to perform namāz with nals or mests than
to be bare-footed. Furthermore, you will have disagreed with Jews. A hadīth-i sherīf declares: Perform
namāz with nals on lest you be like Jews. Rasūlullah and the
Sahāba would perform namāz with nals which they wore outdoors. Their nals
were clean, and the floor of Masjid-i Nebī was covered with sand. They would
not enter the Masjīd with dirty nals. When your shoes are smeared with
najāsat, you must not enter a mosque with them on. You can carry out the sunnat
by wearing socks. And a person whose socks are najs or who does not have any
socks to wear should perform namāz with a loose robe that hangs down to his
heels. Also, it is written in the books Halabī, Berīqa
and Hadīqa that there are numerous blessings
in the namāz that is performed with covered feet.
It is not permissible to perform namāz with bare head and feet, to make
the sajda on a higher place, or to force those who are under your command to
perform namāz in this manner by
saying, Non-Muslims pray with bare head
and feet in churches. As they do, we must pray in a civilized manner. It is
mekrūh to be like disbelievers during worships. And he who disapproves of the
manners ordered by Islam becomes a disbeliever.]
8 - It is mekrūh to begin namāz when you need to urinate, defecate, or
when you need to break wind. If the need happens during namāz, you must break
the namāz. If you do not, you will become sinful. It is better to break the
namāz even if it will cause you to miss the jamāat. Rather than performing
namāz in a manner that is mekrūh, it is better to miss the jamāat, which is
sunnat. But it is not mekrūh (not to break the namāz) lest the prayer time will
expire or lest you will miss the namāz of janāza.
9 - It is mekrūh for men to begin namāz with their hair tied in a knot
on the back of their neck, wound round their head, or gathered on the top of
their head and fastened with thread. If a man does so during namāz, his namāz
becomes nullified. Namāz is performed bareheaded when you are in the ihrām in
Mekka[1].
10 - During namāz, it is mekrūh to sweep stones or soil away from the
place of sajda. If such things are giving you trouble making the sajda, it is
permissible to get rid of them with one movement. However, you should clean
them away before namāz.
11 - When joining a line of worshippers in order to perform namāz in a
mosque, when beginning namāz, or during namāz, it is mekrūh to crack your
fingers by bending them or to insert the fingers of both hands between each
other. If it is necessary, it is not mekrūh to crack your fingers before
getting ready for namāz.
12 - It is mekrūh to put your hand on your flank during namāz.
13 - It is mekrūh to turn your head (face) around and tanzīhī mekrūh to
look around by turning your eyes. If you turn your chest away from the qibla,
your namāz becomes nullified.
14 - In the tashahhuds (sitting and reciting certain prayers
---------------------------------
[1] Please see the seventh chapter of the fifth fascicle of Endless
Bliss for Hajj.
during namāz), to sit like a dog, that is,
to sit on your buttocks with erected thighs while bringing your knees in touch
with your chest and putting your hands on the floor, is mekrūh.
15 - In the sajda it is mekrūh for men to lay their forearms on the
floor. But women must lay their forearms on the floor.
16 - It is mekrūh to perform namāz toward a persons face. It is mekrūh
even if the person is far away from you. It is not mekrūh if there is someone
in between whose back is turned towards you.
17 - It is mekrūh to acknowledge someones greeting with your hand or
head. It is not mekrūh to answer someones question with your hand or head. An
example of this is when someone asks you how many rakats you have performed,
to answer using your fingers. But if you change your place or move to the line
in front immediately upon someones demand, your namāz becomes nullified. [See
the eleventh of the mufsīds of namāz!]
18 - It is stated in Terghīb-us-salāt
that it is mekrūh to yawn outside of namāz as well as during namāz. The lower
lip must be squeezed between the teeth. If you cannot help it, you should cover
your mouth with the outer part of your right hand when standing in namāz and
with your left hand in the other rukns or when not performing namāz.
Unnecessary yawning is caused by Satan. Prophets
(alaihimussalām) did not yawn.
19 - It is tanzīhī mekrūh to close your eyes during namāz. It is not
mekrūh if you do it lest your mind will be distracted.
20 - It is mekrūh for the imām to stand in the mihrāb. The hollowed out
part in the wall of the qibla is called the mihrāb. When his feet are outside
of the mihrāb, it is not mekrūh for him to make the sajda in the mihrāb. A
person is considered to be located in the place where his feet are. The reason
for this is because priests conduct public worships by staying alone in an
isolated room. In a mosque, if the imām of the first jamāat does not conduct
the namāz by standing on the mihrāb, it is mekrūh.
21 - It is tahzīhī mekrūh for the imām to begin namāz alone at a place
half a metre higher than the floor where the jamāat are. This prohibition is
intended to eliminate the possibility of an imām resembling priests.
22 - Also it is mekrūh for an imām to begin namāz alone at a lower
place.
23 - It is mekrūh to perform namāz in the back line while there
is room in the front line or to perform it
alone in the back line because there is no room in the front line. When there
is no room in the front line, you wait for a probable newcomer until the rukū
instead of performing it alone. If no one comes you make your way gently into
the front line. If you cannot go into the front line you get someone you trust
in the front line to move back to the rear line with you. If there is no one
you can trust, then perform it alone.
24 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to perform namāz with clothes that have a
picture or pictures of living things on them, such as humans or animals. It is
not mekrūh if there are pictures of lifeless things on them. Whether for
reverence or for execration, whether small or big, it is harām to draw or paint
pictures or make statues of living things. See the sixtieth and eighty-fifth
letters in the book Mekātīb-i sherīfa![1] Translation of the eighty-fifth letter
exists in our book.
[It is explained detailedly within the subject concerning the
afflictions incurred by hands in the book Hadīqa:
It is always mekrūh to wear any clothes with a picture of a living creature on
them, even though you take them off when you are to perform namāz. Having any
pictures on you is permissible if covered. It is understood from this
information as well as from the two hundred and thirty-eighth page of the fifth
volume of Ibni Ābidīn that it is
permissible to have your picture taken for identity papers, documents,
essential deeds, and other necessities provided you will keep them covered. A
hadīth on the twenty-sixth page of Zawājir declares:
When you find pictures tear them, destroy them!
However, if doing so causes fitna or hostility, you should not do it. None of
the Prophets, the Sahāba, or the great men of
dīn had a photograph. Those abominable, ugly pictures that are shown in
newspapers and in the movies in an effort to portray them are all false. They
are made in order to earn money and to deceive Muslims. Along with the fact
that it is harām also to hang such blessed pictures high on walls, it is hāram
to put them at low places. Since it is harām to draw pictures of living things
anywhere, whether with bare awrat parts or with covered awrat parts, whether
small or big, likewise,
---------------------------------
[1] Written by
Sayyid Abdullah Dahlawī 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (1158 [1744 A.D.],
the money charged for them is also harām.
This has been established as a harām in order to prevent idolatry. It is
written in the explanatory book Imdāt by
Tahtāwī that when you are not performing
namāz also it is mekrūh to wear clothes with pictures of living things on them.
Sayyid Abdulhakīm-i Arwāsī (quddīsa sirruh) says in one of his letters:
It is permissible to use things such as handkerchiefs and coins that have
pictures of living things drawn on them. For such things are despicable,
contemptible; they are not esteemed. This fact is written also in the third
volume of Al-fiqh-u-alal-Madhāhib-il-erbaā.
Hadrat Ibni Hajar-i Haytamī Mekkī (rahmatullāhi alaih) says in his fatwā:
Existence of pictures of living things on such articles as
handkerchiefs and coins is not harmful. For it is not permissible to use
pictures of living things on respected articles, but it is permissible to use
them on disrespected things. Then, it is permissible to have them on the
floor, on things laid on the floor, on cushions, mats, handkerchiefs, bills,
stamps, in closed places, such as pockets, bags, closets, on those parts of
ones clothes that are below ones navel, but it is harām to keep them or to
hang them above the navel. It is harām to use pictures of women or pictures
with exposed awrat parts even without lust at any place or to look at them
lustfully.
It is written on the six hundred and thirty-third page of the second
volume of Hadīqa: It is tahrīmī mekrūh
to put or lay on the floor any piece of paper or cloth or prayer rug that has
some writing or even one letter on it. For it is insulting to use them for any
purpose whatsoever or to lay them on the floor. And it is disbelief to lay or
use them in order to insult them. It has been said that it is permissible to
write them on walls or to hang pieces of writing on walls. Hence, it is
understood that it is not permissible to lay prayer rugs with pieces of
writings or pictures of the Kaba or mosques on them on the floor in order to
pray on them. Nonetheless, it is permissible to hang them on walls for
decoration.
As it is seen, Islam has prohibited pictures and statues of human
beings that serve as instruments to ridicule human beings, that are used for
worshipping living things, and which drift youngsters towards fornication and
cause seduction of married people. However, Islam permits pictures of the
anatomical parts of living things, of plants, and all kinds of pictures
pertaining to
physics, chemistry, astronomy and
engineering. It has commanded drawing and utilization of pictures that are
necessary for knowledge and science. Islam, as always, has classified pictures
into two groups: useful and harmful and has commanded use of the useful ones
while prohibiting the harmful ones. Then, it is a blind claim and a slander for
the enemies of the religion to say, Muslims say that pictures are prohibited,
which is retrogression.]
25 - If the picture of a living thing is drawn on the wall or on pieces
of cloth or paper hanging or put on a wall just above the head, in front, or
just to the right or left of a person who is performing namāz, it is mekrūh.
Even if not in a living form, a picture of the cross is like the picture of a
living thing. For it means to be like Christians. It is mekrūh to imitate their
evil practices, even if not in order to be like them, or to imitate their
unharmful habits with the intention of resembling them. [In fact, it is written
in the books Terghīb-us-salāt and Nisāb-ul-ahbār that it is mekrūh to perform namāz
at such places as well as places where people are drinking alcohol, gambling or
playing musical instruments, and prayers said at these places will not be
accepted. Apparatuses through which musical instruments are heard and pictures
that are harām to look at are watched are like musical instruments.] If the
picture of a living or lifeless thing is on something upon which a person is
standing, sitting or leaning, his namāz does not become mekrūh. If the picture
is on the walls behind the person performing namāz or on the ceiling it is khafīf (light) mekrūh.
It is not mekrūh to perform namāz on prayer rugs or mats possessing
pictures of living things on the parts other than where prostration is made,
since laying them on the floor means belittling them (Durer). [Accordingly, it is not permissible to lay the
carpets with pictures of the Kāba, mosques or pieces of holy writing on the ground.]
If the picture is under the foot of the person performing namāz, on the
place where he is sitting, on his body or in his hand, it is mekrūh. [Hence it
is understood that pictures in ones pocket do not make ones namāz mekrūh.]
But a picture hanging on ones wrist is mekrūh. For it prevents one from
placing ones hands as prescribed by the sunnat.
If the picture on a coin or ring or on any part of a person is
extremely small, that is, if when it is put on the floor, the person standing
cannot make out its limbs, his namāz does not become mekrūh. When covered, it
is not mekrūh if it is big, either. If the head of the living thing has been
cut off, or if its face, chest or belly has been erased or covered with
something, the namāz does not become mekrūh.
With pictures of lifeless things, such as trees or sceneries, no matter
where they are, namāz does not become mekrūh. For small or headless pictures or
pictures of lifeless things have never been worshipped. There were people who
worshipped the sun, the moon, the stars, green trees, but they worshipped those
things themselves. They did not worship their pictures. It is also mekrūh to
perform namāz towards these things.
Angels of compassion do not enter a house where there is a big picture
of a living thing placed at a respected place, a dog, or a person who is junub.
But the angles of Haphaza leave a person
only during sexual intercourse and when he goes into the restroom. The two
angels called Kirāman kātibīn, who are
on a persons shoulders and who write down his good and bad deeds, and those
angels who protect a person against genies are called Angels of Haphaza. Allahu taālā informs the
angels of what a person does in the restroom, and the angels write down his
actions when he comes out of the restroom. The angels do not write on anything
or in letters. As we gather inormation in our mind and memory, so they gather a
persons actions at some place. Today there are various ways of writing, such
as the recording of voices on an apparatus that we call a tape recorder or on
sound films. In the heavens there are angels writing with pens (tools) that are
unknown to us. For disbelievers, only their evil deeds are written down. There
are genies who pester everyone while angels protect us against them.
It is permissible according to Imām-i Abū Yūsuf to buy dolls for
children to play with.
26 - It is tenzīhī mekrūh to count āyats, or tasbīhs with the hand
during namāz. It is permissible to count them through the heart or by moving
the fingers. Outside of namāz it is permissible to count them with fingers or
to use beads. Once Rasūlullah saw a woman counting the tasbīhs with seeds and
did not forbid her. It is mekrūh to use beads for ostentation.
It does not nullify namāz, nor is it mekrūh, to kill a serpent or a
scorpion that is approaching you and may sting
you. It is mustahab to kill it with your
left shoe. A white snake that crawls straight without curling is a genie. You
must not kill him if he does not harm you. But it is permissible to kill him, too.
For genies promised Rasūlullah (sall-Allāhu alaihi wa sallam) that they would
not enter Muslims homes. Entering a home, they have gone back on their word.
First you should warn him by saying Irji
bi-iznillāh. Then, if he will not go away, you should kill him. But
you cannot warn him if you are performing namāz. Not killing a genie disguised
as a snake immediately is not intended to respect them but, to prevent their
harm.
27 - It is not mekrūh to perform namāz against the backs of sitting or
standing people, even if they are talking. It is mekrūh to perform it against a
persons face or against the backs of people who are talking loudly.
28 - It is not mekrūh to perform namāz against the Qurān, a sword, a
candle, a candle-lamp, any lamp, flames, against instruments of war such as
pistols, or against a person who is lying asleep. For those have never been
worshipped. Magians worship fire, not flames. But it is mekrūh to perform it
against a fire with flames, too.
29 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to perform namāz by wrapping yourself in a
towel from head to foot.
30 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to perform namāz with the top of your head
bare by winding a turban round your head.
31 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to perform namāz by covering your mouth and
nose. Magians worship in that manner. [You must not perform namāz with a mask,
gloves, or spectacles that prevent your forehead from touching the floor.
Unless there is a darūrat you must not perform namāz with anything that
prevents your forehead, nose or hands from touching the floor, that is, from
doing any fard or sunnat. There is no necessity for wearing such things during
namāz, even for women].
32 - It is mekrūh to throw phlegm from the throat without a strong
necessity. If blood formed in the mouth is not a mouthful, neither its
formation nor swallowing it nullifies your ablution or namāz. So is the case
with vomitting. [Halabī-i kebīr and Hindīyya].
33 - Amal-i qalīl, that is,
moving one hand once or twice, is mekrūh. [See the fifteenth of things that
nullify namāz!] It is permissible to kill a louse or flea with amal-i qalīl,
but it is mekrūh
to catch or kill it if it is not biting
you. It is harām to leave such insects in the mosque whether they are alive or
dead.
34 - It is mekrūh to omit one of the sunnats of namāz.
There are two groups of sunnat. The first group is Sunan-i hudā. They are the muakkad [strong] sunnats.
The second group is Sunan-i zawāid. They
are the sunnats that are not muakkad. The mustahabs and the mandūbs are in this
category, according to the savants.
It is tahrīmī mekrūh to omit a muakkad sunnat in namāz. It is tanzīhī
mekrūh to omit a sunnat that is not muakkad. It is not mekrūh but khilāf-i awlā
to omit a mustahab. That is, it is a blessing to do the mustahabs, and no sin
is incurred for not doing them, but in that case you will be deprived of their
blessings.
35 - Without a darūrat, it is mekrūh to begin namāz with your child in
your arms. It is not mekrūh if there is a darūrat to do so, provided the
childs clothes are clean.
36 - It is mekrūh to perform namāz against things that distract your
heart and prevent your khushū such as ornamented things, plays, musical
instruments, or any food that you desire. It is mekrūh to perform namāz by
leaving your shoes behind you. This last mekrūh is written on the one hundred
and eighty-sixth page within the subject of Hajj in the book Durr-ul-mukhtār, at the end of Halabī-yi kabīr, and in Bezzāziyya. It is also written in detail within
the subject of suspicion in tahārat at the end of the books Berīqa and Hadīqa.
37 - It is mekrūh to lean on a wall or mast when performing the fard
namāz if there is no strong necessity to do so. It is not mekrūh to do so while
performing the supererogatory namāz.
38 - It is mekrūh to lift your hands up to your ears when bowing for
the rukū or when straightening up from the rukū.
39 - It is mekrūh to complete the qirāat after bowing for the rukū.
40 - In the sajdas or in the rukū, it is mekrūh to put your head down
or to raise your head before the imām does so.
41 - It is mekrūh to perform namāz at places that may be najs, such as
in a cemetery, in a bath or church; but it is not mekrūh to perform it after
cleaning or washing such places, or in the dressing room of a bath or in a
mosque at the cemetery. In case you cannot perform namāz at another place
because of cold weather or for some other reason, or if you cannot find
another place, it is permissible to
perform it in a church alone or in jamāat. But you must leave the place right
after namāz. For a church is a place where devils meet together. If you empty a
church of the symbols of disbelief, it will never be mekrūh to perform namāz
there. It is mekrūh to perform it against najāsat that is not covered.
42 - It is mekrūh to perform it against a grave. Wahhabis say that it
is shirk (to attribute a partner to
Allāhu taālā).
[It is written on the six hundred and thirtieth page of the second
volume of Hadīqa: A hadīth declares: Curse be upon those who perform namāz on a grave! To
perform namāz on a grave is to imitate a Jew. Therefore it has been said to be
mekruh. It is written in the books Hāniyya[1] and Hāwī[2] that it is not mekrūh to perform it at
those parts of a cemetery where there are no graves. If the grave is behind the
worshipper, or in front of him but so far that it would be permissible for
someone else to pass in front of him within such a distance, it is not mekrūh,
either. Also, to turn the graves of Prophets or
pious Muslims into mosques is to imitate Jews. Because it is like attributing a
partner to Allahu taālā while worshipping, our Prophet
prohibited it and prayed: O my Allāhu taālā!
Dont make my grave an idol that is worshipped! But if a mosque is
made close to a pious Muslim or if you perform namāz at a place close to his
grave thinking that you will attain Allahs compassion through him or that your
worship will be useful to him also, and if you do not think of worshipping him,
it is not harmful at all. For, Hadrat Ismāīls (alaihissalām) grave is in a
place called Hātīm, which is close to
Kaba. Because the most valuable namāz performed in Mesjīd-i harām is the one
performed at that place, hajjis try to perform namāz there. It is written in
the explanation of Masābih that this is
so. It is written on the two hundred and sixty-eighth page of Marifatnāma: It is mekrūh to perform namāz
against a grave that does not have a curtain. It is written on the three
hundred and twentieth page of the fifth chapter of Fatāwā-i
Hindiyya: It is not
---------------------------------
[1] Fatāwā-i-Khāniyya, or Majmu'ā-i-Khāniyya,
by Qādī Khān Hasan bin Mansūr Ferghānī 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (d. 592
[1196 A.D.].) It was printed on the margins
of the book Fatāwā-i-Hindiyya in
[2] Written by 'Alī bin Muhammad Wāwerdī 'rahmatullāhī ta'āla 'alaih', (364 [974 A.D.], Basra - 450 [1058], Baghdād.)
mekrūh if there is a curtain between the
qibla of the mosque and the grave or if the grave is on one side or behind
you.
It is written in Fatāwā-i Fayziyya[1]: There are three kinds of pious
foundations: those that are only for the poor, those that are first for the
rich and then for the poor, and those that are both for the rich and for the
poor. Schools, inns, hospitals, cemeteries, mosques and fountains have been
established both for the rich and for the poor. The prohibition against making
tombs in those cemeteries established by pious foundations is intended so as
not to occupy the places belonging to the poor. Therefore, it cannot be said
that such prohibitions are enforced because they are harām.]
43 - It is tanzīhī mekrūh not to sit in accordance with the sunnat in
the tashahhuds (sitting postures). But
it is not mekrūh if you have an excuse.
44 - It is tanzīhī mekrūh to recite in the second rakat the same āyat
you have recited in the first rakat. It is tahrīmī mekrūh to recite an āyat
previous to it. These errors are not mekrūh if they are done as a result of
forgetfulness. It is mekrūh in the second rakat to say three āyats longer than
what was said in the first rakat. [See thirteenth chapter!].
45 - It is mekrūh not to stand up for the final sunnat immediately
after the fard [Terghīb-us-salāt].
1 - In order to kill a snake;
2 - In order to catch an escaping animal;
3 - In order to rescue a flock from wolves;
4 - In order to take food that is boiling over away from the fire;
5 - In order to protect your or someone elses property that is worth
no less than one dirham of silver from destruction; [See the word Dirham-i sharī in the first chapter of the fifth
fascicle.]
6 - In order to urinate or to break wind;
7 - When there is no fear that the prayer time may expire or that you
may be late for the jamāat, in order to rid yourself of something that
mullifies namāz according to another Madhhab, e.g. to clean the najāsat that is
less than one dirham or to make an
---------------------------------
[1] Written by Fayzullah Efendi 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih',
(martyred in
ablution when you remember that you have
touched a woman who is a nāmahram, you can break your namāz.
1 - Namāz must be broken in order to save a person who screams for
help, to save a blind person who is about to fall down into a well, to save a
person who is about to burn or drown, or to put out a fire.
2 - When your mother, father, grandmother or grandfather calls you, it
is not wājib for you to break a fard namāz, but it is permissible; yet, you
must not break it if it is not necessary. But supererogatory namāz [even the
sunnats] must be broken. If they call for help, it is necessary to break the
fard namāz, too. If they call you knowing that you are performing namāz, you may
not break even the supererogatory namāz. But if they call you and do not know
that you are performing namāz, you have to break it.
1 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to turn your front or back towards the qibla
when emptying the bowels or urinating in a restroom or any other place. It is
not mekrūh if you forget or if there is the danger that you may dirty your
clothes or if there is some other danger.
2 - It is tanzīhī mekrūh to turn your front or back towards the qibla
when cleaning yourself after relieving nature, or to urinate or empty the
bowels towards the sun or the moon.
3 - To make a small child relieve itself by holding it towards one of
these directions is mekrūh for the adult who holds it. Likewise, to have a
small child do something that is harām for adults is harām for the adult who
has the child do it. For example, a person who makes a boy wear silk clothes or
ornaments it with jewels or makes it drink alcohol commits a harām by doing so.
4 - It is tahrīmī mekrūh to stretch your legs or only one leg towards
the qibla without a good excuse. Yet it is not mekrūh to do so with an excuse
or by mistake.
5 - Also it is mekrūh to stretch your legs toward a Qurān or other
Islamic books. It is not mekrūh if they are on a higher level. [It is written
in the fifth chapter of Hindiyya: It is
permissible and even advisable to keep the Qurān in your house only for
blessings and abundance without ever reading it. It is mekrūh to
write in Arabic a disbelievers name and
insult it, for Islamic letters have to be respected.]
It is written on the thirteen hundred and sixty-eighth page of the book
Berīqa: It is written in the book Tātārhāniyya[1] that an old and torn copy of the Qurān
that cannot be used must not be burned, but it can be wrapped in a clean piece
of cloth and buried, or it can be put in a clean place that never becomes
dusty. The book Sirājiyya[2] says that it can be buried or burned. The
same is written also in the book Munyatul-muftī[3]. The book Mujtabā[4] says that burying it is better than
leaving it in flowing water. And the book Minhāj-ud-dīn,
known as Halīmī and written by Husayn Jurjānī, one of the Shafiī scholars,
says that it is not forbidden to burn it; when Hadrat Uthmān (radī-Allāhu
anh) burned the copy of the Qurān that contained mansūkh[5] āyats none of the
Sahāba (radī-Allāhu taālā alaihim ajmaīn) protested against it. Burning it is
better than removing the writing by washing it. For the water used in washing
it will be trodden on sometime later, according to savants. Qādī Huseyn said
that it was harām to burn it because it would be sacrilege. And Nawawī said
that it was mekrūh. As we infer from all of these, it is better to remove the
writing by washing it or to bury it than to burn it. Translation from Berīqa has come to an end. As understood from all
of these, it is insulting and harām to leave old copies of the Qurān that
cannot be used any more in places where they will be trodden upon underfoot, to
wrap or cover things with them or to use them in making paper bags or other
things of this sort. It is necessary to bury them in places where they will not
be dug up until they rot and turn back into earth or, if this is impossible, to
burn them and bury the ashes or throw them in the sea or river. In order to
save them from being disrespected, it is permissible and even necessary to burn
them. This is understood also from the fatwās of Sirājiyya,
Minyatul-muftī, and Hālimī.
---------------------------------
[1] That book, also known with the title Zād-ul-musāfir, was
written by 'Ālim bin 'Alā 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā 'alaih', (d. 688 [1289 A.D.].).
[2] Fatāwā-i-Sirājiyya.
[3] Written by Yūsuf bin Ahmad Sijstānī 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā
'alaih', (638 [1240 A.D.],
[4] Written by Mukhtār bin Mahmūd Zāhidī 'rahmatullāhi ta'ālā
'alaih (d. 658 [1259 A.D.].)
[5] Āyat means verse of the Qur'ān. Some āyats were changed by othr āyats that were revealed later. Such changed āyats are called Mansūkh. Those āyats that changed them are called Nāsikh.