| Bismihi Ta`ala *THE MONTH OF SAFAR AND THE DENIAL OF BAD OMENS.* The human being is born with his imagination, his fear and weaknesses. And The Creator confirm this fact: ‘’And man has been created weak.’’(Coran: 4:28) If left to himself, man would imagine the drawings of goat or fish in the stars. To channel him towards faith, good thoughts and truthful life, Allah Ta`ala sent prophets. Prophets confirmed the good omens and denied the wrong path imagined such as bad omen. The beloved prophet SAW said: ‘’There is no such thing as contagious sicknesses, nor is there bad omen, nor are there ghosts and the month of Safar is not of bad omen.’’(Bukhari) و حصين عن أبي صالح عن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال لا عدوى ولا طيرة ولا هامة ولا صفر بخاري The words of Allah, God, and prophets are true. Some may seem contradictive, but in fact they are not. To clarify the facts, we need only explanation that the prophet explained to us or his inheritors, the ulamas, who will put every word in its place. That is why don`t follow non ulamas icons as far as shariah is concerned. Because they will judge according to their whims and local policies and not shariah. They may be masters and professors in their field like inter-religious study, science, etc but ignorant as per matters of shariah and deen. Muhammad Ibn Sireen told us:’’The deen is in fact a core build up of the islamic education. So you should be careful as to from whom you outsource your deen.’’(Muslim) عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ سِيرِينَ قَالَ إِنَّ هَذَا الْعِلْمَ دِينٌ فَانْظُرُوا عَمَّنْ تَأْخُذُونَ دِينَكُمْ مسلم Furthermore the deen has many anchored and strongly built beliefs and practices. But Allah Ta`ala purposely left some issues abstract to test us as to who hold upon the vast truths and who would slip during the spiritual trivial. Allah Ta`ala said: هُوَ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ مِنْهُ آيَاتٌ مُحْكَمَاتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَابِهَاتٌ فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَاءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَاءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَالرَّاسِخُونَ فِي الْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِهِ كُلٌّ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّنَا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (7) رَبَّنَا لَا تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ He is the one who has revealed to you the book(Qur-aan). Out of it there are verses that are of clear established meaning, which are the principal verses of the book. And some others are of abstract meanings. Now, those who have perversity in their hearts go after such part of it that are abstract, seeking to create confusions…’’(3:7) The beloved prophet SAW said: ‘‘Halaal have been clearly defined and haraam also have been clearly defined. And between them are abstract matters that many people ignore its entity. So one who stays away from doubtful matters, he would have saved his deen and his honour.’’(Bukhari) سمعت النعمان بن بشير يقول سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول الحلال بين والحرام بين وبينهما مشبهات لا يعلمها كثير من الناس فمن اتقى المشبهات استبرأ لدينه وعرضه ومن وقع في الشبهات كراع يرعى حول الحمى يوشك أن يواقعه ألا وإن لكل ملك حمى ألا إن حمى الله في أرضه محارمه ألا وإن في الجسد مضغة إذا صلحت صلح الجسد كله وإذا فسدت فسد الجسد كله ألا وهي القلب بخاري The safe mode of living is to stay at a good distance from haraam things and also avoid doubtful or abstract matters. This mode is applied in practical life and also in theories of deen. When something of deen is complex, far from our understanding, then accept it as it is, without questioning. That is why M Yusuf Binnory r.a. said that we should not look for scientific reasons of sunnah, nor should we rejoice when science found benefits of sunnah. Because our deen is from pure prophetic texts and practices. Take it as it is, be it sweet or sour. Furthermore, let`s take the other texts of the beloved prophet Muhammad Swalallahou `Alaihi Wasallam about contagious sicknesses. The beloved prophet SAW said: ‘’Do stay away from the leprous just as you run away from the lion.’’(Bukhari-Ta`leeqan) Also the beloved prophet SAW advised us to stay away from an specific area affected by the pest.(Bukhari) And those inside the affected area should not come out of that area.(Bukhari) This is to prevent the sickness from spreading. Over here, ulamas explain that there are some sicknesses that are contagious. But mostly, generally the sicknesses are not contagious(as referred by the first hadith). Also the act to contamination is not from the sickness itself, but rather from Allah Ta`ala himself. He decides who to give the sickness and who to save from it. Unseen creations like the Angels and the Jinns exist, evil eyes exists, sorcery exists but no such thing that there are dead soul torment people swirl around like ghost. Good omen like hearing the meaningful name of someone and then derive a good omen is sunnah. But take bad omen is baseless and denied by shariah. It was believed that the month of Safar carried lots of bad omens. So the prophet SAW denied it. Time, place, people, animals or events does not carry any bad omen in it. Yes, the actions of people done have its respective effects. An evil action concentration that cause wrath and destruction and hence avoidance to use from its ruins. Concentration of tawaaf and good actions bring the blessings of Haram. Next are the masjids. Khair, there may be daily utilities that we use that are not efficient and hence will cause lots of havoc to life. So instead of having daily trouble, take it as a bad omen and change it. This is the meaning of the following hadith: عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَنَّهُ قَالَ إِنْ يَكُنْ مِنْ الشُّؤْمِ شَيْءٌ حَقٌّ فَفِي الْفَرَسِ وَالْمَرْأَةِ وَالدَّارِ مسلم Rasouloullah SAW said‘‘Had bad omen existed, then it would have been in these: Horse(transport), wife and house.’’(Muslim) Bad omen is used here to describe the continuous difficulties and harm that these three could give. Counseling for you to change a transport that consumes lots of fuel, breaks down a lot and keeps going to the mechanic. Counseling for you to look for another house that is small and does not offer enough space for the family and has bad neighbors. And if after in room dialogue, passive steps done, and still no improvement then the couple should take counseling. Mufti Ayoob Mackoojee +23057921333 @MuftiMackoojee |