ISLAM: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

                                     ISLAM: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS


Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
The historians and some of the mufassireen have stated
that her name was Rahmah bint Meesha ibn Yoosuf ibn
Ya’qoob.
But this is something which is not proven in any clear
sound text, rather it was transmitted from the books of
the People of the Book, or by some Muslims from them.
We shall list those who were of this view and transmitted
it:
1 – Al-Suyooti said: Ibn ‘Asaakir narrated that Wahb ibn
Munabbih (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “The
wife of Ayyoob (peace be upon him) was Rahmah (may
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Allaah be pleased with her) bint Meeshaa ibn Yoosuf ibn
Ya’qoob ibn Ishaaq ibn Ibraaheem (peace be upon them).
(al-Durr al-Manthoor, 7/197. Also in Tafseer al-
Baydaawi, 3/310; Tafseer al-Qurtubi, 9/265; Tafseer al-
Baghawi, 2/451)
2 – Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allaah have
mercy on him) said:
But these Israa’eeli (i.e., Jewish) reports to be mentioned
for the purpose of proving a point, they are not to be
believed. They are of three types:
(i) Those which we know are sound because of evidence
which we have which proves them to be true. These are
saheeh.
(ii) Those which we know are false because of evidence
which we have which contradicts them.
(iii) Those which we do not know whether they are true
or false. So we do not believe in them and we do not
disbelieve in them, but it is permissible to narrate them
for the reasons given above.
Most of them are things which serve no religious purpose,
hence the scholars of the People of the Book differ greatly
concerning such things. The mufassireen also differed
concerning them as a result of that, as they mentioned,
for example, the names of the People of the Cave, the
colour of their dog and their number, or what kind of tree
the staff of Moosa came from, and other matters which
Allaah did not mention in detail in the Qur’aan because
knowing the specific details does not serve any worldly
or religious purpose.
(Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 13/366-367).
Al-Shanqeeti (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
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What the mufassireen have said concerning the name of
their dog – some said that its name was Qitmeer, and
some said that its name was Hamdaan, etc. – we need not
dwell on at length, because it serves no purpose. There
are many things in the Qur’aan which neither Allaah nor
His Messenger has explained to us in detail, and there
are no proven reports concerning them; there is no benefit
to be gained by researching such matters.
(Adwaa’ al-Bayaan, 4/48)
And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid (www.islamqa.
com)
10358: No-one who was alive in 10 AH lived for more than
one hundred years
Question:
Could you please explain this hadith: Narrated by
Abdullah ibn Umar (RA): Once the Prophet led us in the
‘Isha’ prayer during the last days of his life and after
finishing it (the prayer) (with Taslim) he said: “Do you
realize (the importance of) this night?” Nobody present
on the surface of the earth tonight will be living after the
completion of one hundred years from this night.” —
Sahih Bukhari (1.116)
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
The meaning of the hadeeth is clear and apparent, and
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was borne out by real events. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) was stating that none of
the people who were alive at that time would live for
more than a hundred years, and this is what in fact
happened. The last of the Sahaabah to die passed away in
110 AH, i.e., he died one hundred years after the
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
died. His name was Abu’l-Tufayl ibn Waathilah.
Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd
This hadeeth was narrated by Imaam al-Bukhaari (may
Allaah have mercy on him) in his Saheeh, from ‘Abd-
Allaah ibn ‘Umar, who said: “The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) led us in praying ‘Ishaa
towards the end of his life. When he had said the salaam,
he stood up and said: ‘Do you see this night of yours?
One hundred years from now, there will not be anyone
left of those who are on the face of the earth.’”
There follow some comments made by Ibn Hajar (may
Allaah have mercy on him) on this hadeeth:
“Led us in prayer” means as an imaam.
“Towards the end of his life”. A corroborating report
narrated by Jaabir states that this was one month before
he (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) died.
“Do you see” means, “Think about (this night).”
“One hundred years from now” means, when one hundred
years have passed.
“There will not be anyone left of those who are on the
face of the earth” means, anyone who was alive at that
time.
Ibn Battaal said: What the Messenger (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him) meant was that during this time39
span their generation would pass away. He was pointing
out to them how short their lives were and that their lives
were not like those of the nations who came before them,
so that they would strive hard in worship.
Al-Nawawi said: What is meant is that everyone who was
on the face of the earth on that night would not live for
more than one hundred years after that night, whether he
was young on that occasion or not. It does not mean that
anyone who was born after that night would not live for a
hundred years. And Allaah knows best.
This hadeeth is one of the signs of the Prophethood of
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).
He was speaking of future events which came to pass as
he described them. The trustworthy scholars use this as
evidence in refuting some of the Sufis who say that al-
Khidr is still alive until now.
Islam Q&A. Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
(www.islam-qa.com)
12222: Did the Arabs know about Allaah before the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was
sent?
Question:
We know that Holy Prophet’s()father name was Abdullah
& he had passed away before Prophet’s birth.With this
background please tell that what was the concept in arabs
about “ALLAH”before prophet.Were they familiar to this
word before prophet’s birth?How did they differentiate
Allah from idols,if at all they did?
Answer:
You should note that Arabian societies before Islam were
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not atheistic societies that denied the existence of Allaah,
or societies that were unaware that there is a Lord, Creator
and Provider. They knew that, and they still retained some
traces of the religion of Ibraaheem, and they had contact
with Jews and Christians. But their problem was that they
did not worship Allaah Alone in exclusion to others; they
had other gods whom they associated in worship with
Him, and which they worshipped not on the basis that
they were the Lord, the Creator the Provider, but because
they claimed that these were intermediaries who would
intercede between them and Allaah and bring them closer
to Allaah. Hence Allaah said concerning them
(interpretation of the meaning):
“And if you (O Muhammad) ask them: ‘Who has created
the heavens and the earth,’ they will certainly say:
‘Allaah’” [Luqmaan 31:25]
This indicates that they acknowledged that Allaah is the
Creator. Another aayah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“And verily, if you ask them: ‘Who created the heavens
and the earth?’ Surely, they will say: ‘Allaah (has created
them)’” [al-Zumar 39:38]
Many aayaat indicated that they believed in the Unity of
Lordship (Tawheed al-Ruboobiyyah); their shirk was with
regard to divinity (uloohiyyah), as Allaah says concerning
them (interpretation of the meaning):
“And those who take Awliyaa’ (protectors, helpers, lords,
gods) besides Him (say): ‘We worship them only that they
may bring us near to Allaah’” [al-Zumar 39:3]
i.e., they said, we only worship them so that they may
bring us closer to Allaah.
Shaykh Sa’d al-Humayd (www.islam-qa.com)
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1437: Does the dove hold any significance in Islam?
Question:
In the Christian religion, a dove is a symbol not only for
peace but also for the Holy Spirit.In the Islamic religion,
does the dove hold any significance ?
Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
We put this question to Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen,
may Allaah preserve him, who answered as follows.
The dove does not have any particular meaning in Islam.
It is simply one of the birds that Allaah has permitted us
to eat, just like any other permissible bird.
In Islam, the dove does not stand for peace or for anything
else. It is sufficient for us Muslims for us to follow the
commands of Allaah to establish justice on earth.
Shaykh ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Jibreen