All praises are due to Allah. We praise Him, and seek His
Help, and ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil in
our souls and from our sinful deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead.
And whoever Allah misguides, no one can guide. I bear witness that there is
no one worthy of worship except Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad is
His servant and messenger. O believers, have Taqwa [fear] of Allah according
to His right and die not save as Muslims. O mankind, have Taqwa of your Lord,
the One who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and from
them spread many men and women. And fear Allah from whom you demand your mutual
rights and [do not cut] familial relations. Surely, Allah is Ever an All-Watcher
over you. O believers, have Taqwa of Allah and always speak the truth. He
will direct you to do righteous deeds and will forgive you your sins. And
whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great achievement.
To proceed:
In many parts of the Western or English speaking world, our Muslim sisters
do not have as much access to scholars, lectures in the mosques, arenas in
which they may ask questions, and so forth. Therefore there is a pressing
need to get vital Islamic information out to them in means they can take advantage
of. This book is a step, Allah willing, in that direction.
In this work, the collector has done a good job of compiling many of the most important and often asked questions from sisters. The responses are given by some of the top scholars in the Muslim world today, namely, Sheikh 'Abdul Aziz ibn Baz, Sheikh Muhammad ibn 'Uthaimin ('Uthaymin) and Sheikh 'Abdullah ibn Jibrin. Some of the questions were responded to by the "Standing Committee" made up of eminent scholars similar to those just mentioned.
My role in translating this work is just that: translating the work. Therefore,
I have tried to keep my comments to a minimum-- except for the comments on
hadith that is referred to in the text paragraph. Usually, comments will only
appear to make the meaning of the question or answer clearer to those who
are from a different background from the questioners and scholars involved.
Very rarely, there may be a comment of a different nature.
Due to the nature of fatawa, or giving answers to questions received, many
times important information about the hadith quoted is not mentioned by the
scholars. In those cases where the Sheikh did not give the needed information
concerning a hadith, I have made the effort to trace the hadith and mention
such information. In general, if a hadith was from Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih
Muslim, that is all I would mention about the hadith. Otherwise, I would mention
only the most important hadith references in which that hadith is to be found.
Since the scholars responding to the questions are excellent scholars and
very knowledgeable of hadith, it is very rare that they quote any hadith which
is not authentic. Still, just to give the reader more confidence in the work,
I did quote hadith specialists concerning those. Ahadith that were not taken
from either Sahih al-Bukhari or Sahih Muslim.
It has been my attempt to limit the number of Arabic terms used in this translation.
In this way, every English reader can, Allah willing, benefit completely from
the work. However, on occasion, I was still forced to use some Arabic terms.
Usually, when coming across such terms, they are defined in parenthesis or
are clear from the context. Some of these Arabic terms are completely defined
in the glossary at the end of the work.
I pray that Allah accepts this work from us and makes it beneficial for the
Muslim community. I ask Allah to bless the Sheikhs who responded to these
questions and to increase their knowledge and fear of Him. May Allah also
bless Br. Muhammad al-Musnad for gathering these questions in one work and
getting them published. May Allah also bless Br. Abdul Malik Mujahid of Darussalam
for presenting this translation project to me as well as for his encouraging
me to complete it. May Allah also especially bless three brothers (Br. Muhammad
Tahlawi, Dr. Muhammad al- Osimi and Br. Fahd al-Yahya) who have assisted me
a great deal over the years, although in very different ways.
I ask Allah to forgive my mistakes and shortcomings in this work and in general.
O Allah, accept this work from me as a work done solely for your sake.
Br. Jamal Zarabozo
May 30, 1996
Muharram 13, 1417
