Our Dialogue

Q. I read in a book about the Prophet’s (Pbuh) medicine that a particular substance is effective to cure heart disease. However, the book mentions that it should be administered in a certain way, and that the person should perform the ablution, i.e. wudhu, before administering it. My question concerns the necessity for the ablution. Why? May I also ask whether there is really a type of medicine that can be correctly attributed to the Prophet? How to refer to it?


A. Much has been made in recent years of the advice the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave on different occasions on the treatment of certain ailments and complaints endured by his companions. What we have to remember is that the Prophet (Pbuh) was not a medical doctor, or a specialist in any branch of human knowledge. He never went to any school, nor studied under any teacher of any sort. What he learned came to him through two different ways: Revelation from God, and personal experience. The first method applies only to his message which deals with belief and faith. It may include some instructions on dealing with a particular situation, if and when God deemed that to be necessary.


When the Prophet gave an opinion about something that is not related to religion, he made clear that he formed that opinion on the basis of information passed to him by God, or else it was subject to the rule he himself outlined: “You know what relates to your present life better.” Thus, unless we have some clear indication from him that a particular treatment is effective for a particular condition, we assume that his use or recommendation of that treatment is based on personal experience, which may be superseded as human knowledge improved.


Besides, when you look at what is included in books that discuss what is termed as “the Prophet’s medicine” you find that it is mostly based on the use of food, plants or seeds that were available at the time. Most of them are still available, but some may not be. There is nothing special about it. Indeed the Prophet and his companions were willing to put any new information they might receive from any source to good use.


I discussed this issue with an Islamic scholar who is at the same time a medical doctor. He tells me that all that is included under the “Prophet’s medicine” is based on human knowledge at that time. Only what is stated in the Qur’an or the Hadith as useful carries further endorsement. Otherwise, there is no special status for, say, cupping that makes it always more effective than anything human experience may discover in future.

Q. Could you please throw some light on the question of being harmed by jinn. What does the Qur’an say about this?


A. The jinn is a different type of creation from us, yet, like us, they have been given freedom of choice in the question of faith and belief. Therefore, they are required to believe in Islam in the same way as human beings. Surah 72 of the Qur’an is entitled Al-Jinn and it speaks of some of them listening to the Qur’an and believing in it. The same incident is also mentioned in Surah 45, Al-Ahqaf. From both reports of the event we learn that they were also required to believe in the message of the Prophet Moses. They include some believers and some unbelievers, which are in majority. However, we cannot see them, but they see us as mentioned in Surah 7, Verse 27. They are created from a totally different substance. While we are created from clay, they are created out of fire.


Can they harm us? We do not have anything in the Qur’an or the authentic Sunnah to suggest so. It is more accurate to say that they have their own world and we have ours.


We have to draw a particular distinction. Satan belongs to the jinn. He and his offspring are among the unbelievers of the jinn. They try hard to persuade us to commit sins and acts of disobedience of God. But they are limited to promptings and trying to encourage us to disobey God. They have no power over us to force us into such actions. Anyone who is a good believer will be able to resist them easily.

Q. I know very little about Islam. Could you please let me know whether Islam approves of slavery? Does Islam consider women inferior to men? Why cannot a woman go on pilgrimage without having a man relative? Doesn’t this indicate discrimination?


A. We can say for certain that Islam does not approve of slavery. When Islam was revealed, slavery was a very common practice in all human societies. Islamic legislation includes a variety of ways to ensure the reduction and eventual eradication of slavery. But this was to come gradually as Muslim society developed. There was an important reason for that, which is to help slaves cope with their new status. Had Islam issued an order to free all slaves straightaway, that would have created social chaos, as many would not have been able to cope. This happened in the US when slavery was abolished by law. Many former slaves went back to their masters to serve them, because they could not earn a living without them. The Islamic approach to the eradication of slavery is a better one. However, it should be said that slavery continued in Muslim society for much longer than what could have been expected because of historical factors. To go into these is beyond the scope of this column.


Islam gives men and women equal status in everything, except where their social roles diverge. In these situations it gives each what is most suitable for them. Indeed Islam takes better care of women than any other social order, including modern Western society. Where Islam differentiates between man and woman, it always gives the woman a more privileged position. Unfortunately women are not treated according to Islamic teachings in most Muslim countries. Therefore, you have different aspects of injustice. This is compounded when the blame is laid at the doorstep of Islam. It is totally untrue.


Islam requires any woman who is travelling on any journey that takes more than one full day, i.e. 24 hours, to be accompanied by a male relative who should be either her husband or a relative she cannot marry, such as her father or brother. This is an aspect of the care Islam takes of women. It is nothing to do with her ability to travel or what she may do when she travels. It is to do with the fact that people encounter difficulties when they travel. To be accompanied by a man ensures that a woman is better taken care of. This is why Islam makes it a condition of travel. It does not apply to the pilgrimage only, but to all travel.

Q. Is staying in Mina a duty or a Sunnah? If one does not stay during pilgrimage in Mina, should he sacrifice a sheep in compensation? Is a sheep due for each night, or one for the whole period?


A. Staying in Mina is a duty according to some schools of Fiqh, but others like the Hanafi school consider it a Sunnah, or recommended. The Hanbali school has two views on this point, one of them considers it a Sunnah and the other a duty. Some leading scholars like Ibn Hazm say that if a person does not stay in Mina for at least two nights, he has done badly, but nothing is required from him in compensation. Imam Ahmad recommends such a pilgrim to offer some charity to poor people. Those who are strict in their view say that it is a duty require slaughtering one sheep in compensation for failing to stay in Mina. The whole period requires one sheep only.


Having said that, I should add that it is important to realize that staying in Mina is a separate duty from that of stoning, which is also done in Mina. Failing to do the stoning, or any part of it, requires compensation by slaughtering a sheep.

Q. Suppose that an employee’s job allows him to arrange subcontracting some of the work of his company, and the subcontractor pays him discreetly some commission without his asking for it. Is such commission permissible to take?


A. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: “Abandon what causes you doubts and stick to what gives you no doubt.” This is a Hadith that applies to this case. If the employee fears that repercussions could arise should the company know of these payments then he inevitably has doubts and he should make sure to be in the clear. In this case, the simple answer is that he will be better off without such payments.


Having said that, I may add that it is better for the employee, the company and the subcontractor to deal with this issue fairly and squarely. He can do so by telling his company of these payments, suggesting that he pays them into the company. He can couple this with a request for a salary rise. Alternatively he can suggest that he should be allowed to keep a share of these payments. So, if it is agreed that he gets, say, half these payments and the company gets the other half, he will have absolutely no doubt about his payment and he will get something in return for the extra work he is putting into such subcontracts.


What is important to realize is that although the subcontractor gives him this unsolicited commission without his requesting or demanding it, the subcontractor will soon be in a position of advantage in his dealings with the company. The employee will always want to give him subcontracts in preference to others who may be able to do a better or cheaper job. On the other hand, when he gets used to such payments, he will be looking for more. If another contractor offers him a bigger commission, he will favour that contractor. He will soon find himself in an untenable position.


The employee may find it difficult to speak frankly about these payments with the company. If he fears that it could bring him trouble by merely speaking about them and offering to share them with the company, then this means that he should stop them without delay. On the other hand, he may think that the owners of the company may not receive the information, as they should. He needs to ask himself how much of his doubt is motivated by a desire to keep the payments for himself. Hence, the Hadith with which we started this answer applies very clearly. It is far better for him and all concerned that things are done in the open.

Q. Recently, we heard about some Muslim women in the United States claiming that it is permissible for them to lead a public, mixed-gender Friday Prayer. What is Islam’s stance on this? As far as I know, a Muslim woman can’t lead people in Friday Prayer and she is not also allowed to deliver the Friday sermon. Please clarify this issue as there is uproar here among the Muslims. 


A: There is a consensus among Muslim jurists that a woman is not allowed to lead men in a Mosque or congregation. Also, she is not allowed to lead people in a Friday Prayer or to deliver the Friday khutbah. She is, however, allowed to lead a congregation consisting only of women.
Responding to the question, Sheikh Muhammad Nur Abdullah, President of the Islamic Society of North American (ISNA) and member of the Fiqh Council of North America, states the following:


1. Islamic teachings are based on two things: belief and submission. When it comes to ‘ibadat (acts of worship), the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) taught us to follow his example and not someone else’s. Salah (ritual Prayer) is unanimously agreed to be an act of ‘ibadah, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is reported to have said “Pray as you see me praying.” So the example of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Companions and the generations that came after them have to be followed.


2. The rules of salah should be known from scholars because they know how to interpret the sayings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Among those great scholars are ‘A’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her). Among the rules of salah are the requirements and prerequisites for how to perform it, who can lead the people in salah, and so on.


3. Scholars have put certain conditions for someone to be qualified to lead the people in Prayer. The imam must be a Muslim, sane, adolescent, male, and pure, i.e., have wudu’ (ablution). Women leading men in Prayer is wrong, whether in fard (obligatory) or nafl Prayers. But if the followers are only women, it is allowed for a woman to lead the Prayer. According to Shafi‘is and Hanbalis, a woman can lead other women in Prayer while standing in the middle of the line. According to Malikis, women cannot lead other women in Prayer at all, while the Hanafis say it is makruh or blameworthy.


4. According to the hadith of Umm Waraqah reported in the Sunan of Abu Dawud, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) appointed a muezzin for her, and ordered her to lead her family members in Prayer.


5. The majority of Muslim jurists say that there is no single incident where a woman led a mixed Prayer outside her family members.


Having said that, we cannot find one single proof that women can lead men in salah, and going with the hadith “pray as you see me praying”, we cannot innovate a way of performing salah.

Allah Almighty knows best.