Majed Jarrar

walaikum Assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

---

1. Hadeeth isn't black or white; the spectrum between authentic and inauthentic is very broad. What is considered less than authentic to Imam Bukhaari is still authentic to Imam Nasaa'i. Imam Ibn Rajab said: "Concerning the virtue of the night of the fifteenth of Sha’baan there are numerous ahaadeeth, concerning which the scholars differed, but most of them classed them as da’eef, and Ibn Hibbaan classed some of them as saheeh."

---

2. Even if the hadeeth is weak, it can still be used as proof, especially - but not necessarily - if it's weak due to lack of information (e.g. one person in the chain is unknown). In such cases, the hadeeth has the potential to be strengthened if more information becomes available, vis-a-vis the already-existing presence of weakening information (e.g. person in the chain known for doubts in integrity or honesty) that is difficult to be improved.

---

3. Even if the hadeeth is so weak that it cannot be used as proof (e.g. fabricated or mixed up), the case doesn't fall with the elimination of one proof. For example here, there is abundance of other authentic narrations that the tabi'een (1st century of Hijra) gave special status to that night and prayed qiyam in congregation at the mosque, etc.

---

4. There are numerous authentic hadeeths that cannot be used as proof, either due to abrogation or context, etc.

---

Therefore, it should be clear that asking about the ruling of something is independent of learning about proofs, or methods of deduction.

---

When you go to a doctor, you ask how to treat your flu right now, not what is the credibility index of the research published on the effectiveness of a flu shot, not how to hypothetically treat flu but you're healthy. If you do, regardless you're a medical student or a curious layman, you're wasting the time of a doctor in a clinic, which is fundamentally different than the time of a doctor in a classroom. The answer you'll get is different in each setting.

View more

Yes, the prayer seeking the rain (istisqaa') is prescribed on the community as a whole when there is drought or when the rain is needed. The Sunnah is that the community leader makes an announcement for three days prior to the date of the prayer, inviting the community to repent from their sins and the debtors to pay back their debts. Then they set off, preferably on foot, in humility and pleading for forgiveness, to an open space, preferably in the outskirts of the city. The imam would give a khutba then pray 2 rak'aa (or pray then give a khutba), in which he invokes God for mercy and the rain. The prayers are similar to the Eid prayer in the extra takbeer and the loud recitation of A'la and Ghashiya, etc. However the khutba must be focused on invoking Allah's mercy and rain.
A person who misses the prayer may not do it alone. However, a person may pray a supererogatory prayer and ask Allah sincerely to bring down the rain upon them or their brothers, because it's an invocation, and an invocation can be done anytime and in any form. Maybe you could be that one sincere person whom Allah would respond to their calling, so make duaa for them.

View more

Taxes are forbidden in Islam according to clear hadeeths of the Prophet - peace be upon him. He said: "No tax-officer shall enter paradise." Imam Ibn Hajar al-Haitami included it in his Book of Major Sins, so did Imam Ath-Thahabi. The latter said: Officers in charge of taxes and customs are just as evil as bandits, taking wealth that is not rightfully theirs in order not to hurt them. The officers, the collectors, the witnesses, are all committing a major sin in Islam whether they're taxing a religious scholar, a soldier or a merchant.

---

However, those Muslims who justify tax evasion based on that, is like those who justify stealing food from a restaurant because its serving (those haram but juicy) pork chops.

---

The whole individual taxation system has many injustices that are solved in the Islamic economic system of Zakaat. Muslims pay Zakaat on the accumulating wealth (i.e. net profit) unused for a year, not on their gross income. A Muslim billionaire who uses his entire income to build condos, businesses, etc, and rents them, pays zero Zakaat on any money that was put in infrastructure. He would only pay Zakaat on the net income he gets from renting his condos/businesses, unless if he uses that money to build more infrastructure within the same fiscal year. The end goal here is that Islam promotes velocity of money (i.e. that money keeps moving from one hand to another, not sit in bank accounts of rich people). God says: "So that it [i.e. wealth] doesn't become exclusive among the wealthy amongst you."

---

These systems cannot be reformed by individual efforts alone (unless these individuals are exceptionally influential.) Hence, personal tax evasion isn't a solution, and isn't something any scholar would recommend. Evading taxes will not hurt the system, nor make a legislator think you have a point. If anything, it would be the opposite of both. A person might not be sinful for evading taxes, some scholars suggested, however a person is sinful for throwing themselves in jail or getting a heavy fine for a stupid cause.

---

Academic P.S: There is one exception to taxation, which is if the government was bankrupt, they are allowed to ask people to pay for a specific project or service, like build a bridge or maintain drinking water, until that budget shortage is resolved. However, the income of the people may not be the primary source of income for the government in Islam.

View more

Please understand first and foremost that all humans have a natural instinct to fit in with those around them. So it's completely fine if you find your friends and Sheikh call themselves Salafi, to want to do that as well. However, we know from the Quran, and Sunnah, and even logic, that not every following of social norms is a good one.
Let's be clear that every faction of Sunnah claim to follow the righteous predecessors (the salaf). We have abundance of teachings showing us that following them is a goal of any believer. There is no Sunni Muslim who doesn't love the Salaf, or aspire to follow them. However Salafiyya is not a title, never have been and never should. When Sheikh Ibn Uthaimeen rahimahullah was asked if he was Salafi, he said, "I hope to become so".
The danger from calling oneself Salafi is that it comes with a sense of self entitlement, and Allah forbade that. It is the same category of describing oneself as Taqi, or Saalih. Go visit any Sunni mosque that doesn't claim that entitlement and you'll soon find other Muslims relate to the Salaf with equal love, if not more.
Some contemporary scholars have tried to justify the title "Salafi", notwithstanding the oxymoronic fact that the term Salafi is an innovation itself, and the last thirty years have proven it is a bad innovation.
I call myself and people to follow the Salaf, by following their methodology and their understanding of Islam, not by making up a contemporary methodology, understanding and opinions and claim it is the following of the Salaf. Unfortunately, the dominating voices of Salafi-claimants today do the latter.
If you want to be on the true path of the Salaf, follow those whom the Salaf followed, and unanimously agreed on their eligibility to be followed; follow Ayyoub or Rabee'a; or Sufyan or Awzaa'i; or Malik or Ahmed; rahimahumullah. Those were truly the flagships of Salaf of all time, they were the carriers of the Sunnah banner, defenders of Sharia, and revivers of Islam.
Also, watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v_qeMxc_vY

View more