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Various Questions on Theology

Answered as per Hanafi Fiqh by DarulIftaBirmingham

Answered by: Shaykh Shafiur Rahman

Question:

  1. We all believe that Allah knows everything inside the hearts of every living creature. Then Allah must know what’s the level of Iman that we possess. Then again why the test is needed to check one’s strength of Iman? Usually, tests will be conducted to know the ability of a person as a tester is unsure capabilities of other person but Allah know the capabilities then how testing us helpful.
  2. Allah loves us more than anyone else then Allah will give us the best. And also it’s in hadith that Allah sometimes won’t give the same that we asked for instead gives an alternate that is better than what has been asked. When Allah knows and gives us best then why again we Allah commanded us to ask him to get something? what’s the purpose of dua.
  3. We do praise Allah every time and claim Allah is greatest orally but at the same time, we give so much importance to our worldly needs that we even forget laws of sharia and sunnah and go against Islamic laws if needed. Don’t you think this is hypocrisy?
  4. If my wife is a working woman what rights do I have on her earning money? What is the right that I have on my wife? Categorize in things that I can command, things that I can request things that I can suggest.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

 

Answer:

1. It is true Allah knows the level of your Iman and He knows exactly how you will act with regards to tests of Iman. However, these tests are not for Allah’s benefit but rather for our own benefit and to do justice to us. Therefore Allah gives everyone a chance to prove to themselves that either they are worthy of praise and reward or they are worthy of blame and punishment due to their own actions which they carried out. So the clear proof is established for all to see in both scenarios and none can claim later on that they weren’t given a chance to prove themselves.

2. Making dua to Allah first and foremost is a great act ibadah which serves the main purpose of why we were created. Therefore whenever you sincerely make dua to Allah for something that is permissible/halal then you will get a reward for it whether or not Allah grants you the exact thing you asked for.

3. Anas (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) reports that  Rasulullah said, “Dua is the essence of ibaadah.”(Tirmidhi)

Making dua to Allah to ask for your needs to Allah allows you to practice Tawhid and Tawakkul (trust and reliance on Allah), it teaches us and reminds us that Allah is always in control of everything and everything truly belongs to Him alone. This is what Allah wants from his slaves.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ❝Let one of you ask his Lord for his every need, until he asks Him for salt, and asks Him for the strap of his sandal when it breaks.❞ [Jami` at Tirmidhi]

4. Hypocrisy can be divided into 3 main types. The first type is major hypocrisy which takes you out of Islam. It is the legal technical sense of the word. This is when someone doesn’t really believe in Allah or has rejected any of the pillars of Iman and then pretends to be Muslim on the outside.

This is the type mentioned in the Quran

“Surely the hypocrites are in the lowest stage of the fire and you shall not find a helper for them.

Except those who repent and amend and hold fast to Allah and are sincere in their religion to Allah, these are with the believers, and Allah will grant the believers a mighty reward.” 4:145-146

The second is when someone has a characteristic of hypocrisy but his Iman is intact and has Iman in Allah and everything that a Muslim required to have Iman in but he has some weaknesses. This is explained by the following hadith

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “The signs of a hypocrite are three: Whenever he speaks he tells a lie; whenever he is entrusted he proves dishonest; whenever he promises he breaks his promise.”

Therefore someone may be dishonest sometimes or lie sometimes or break a promise however that would not make him a complete hypocrite although it means he has acted in a manner of one of the actions of the hypocrite.

The third type of hypocrisy is more general in a linguistic sense when someone preaches something but does its opposite people refer to that person as ‘hypocrite’ in the general linguistic sense of the word.

Therefore the one who goes against the sunna or doesn’t obey some of the laws of Islam is no doubt very sinful however if he has Iman as described above he will not be counted as a complete hypocrite in the technical legal sense. However one can say that the person’s actions are hypocritical in the general linguistic sense or if he is doing something specific that has been described as a sign of hypocrisy then the person has a characteristic of hypocrisy but is not a complete hypocrite.

5. Generally a woman’s earnings belong solely to her and a husband has no right over her earnings in the Hanafi school. The legal limits are that the wife should obey the husband in anything lawful, related to their marriage and family decisions where agreement couldn’t be reached by mutual consultation, as long as there is no harm or contradiction of the Shariah in it, or the taking of others’ rights (including her own, such as her right to dispose of her own property as she wishes).

6. You also have the right to intimacy with your wife according to your needs as long as she is well and healthy and it causes her no harm, just as she too has this right. You have the right to be treated kindly and respectfully just as she too has this right.

In terms of the spirit of the Islamic marriage, it is based on the Qur’anic injunction of “love and mercy,” with both parties enjoined to live up to the Qur’anic injunction that, “Men are the caretakers of women,” and the rights and duties it places on each spouse.

Fuqaha have mentioned that all the rulings of the fiqh of marriage go back to this verse:

Men are caretakers (qawwamuna) of women, because of that through which Allah has favoured one over another, and because of what they spend on their property (Qur’an 4:34).

Only Allah knows best

Written by Shaykh Shafiur Rahman

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham

This answer was collected from DarulIftaBirmingham.co.uk, which is run under the supervision of Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah from the United Kingdom.

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