Islamic Help Desk- Al-Afwan IslamicOrg

💌↪↪Your question:
Does listening to Soorat al-Kahf on Friday bring the same reward as that of the one who reads it?

Praise be to Allah.

The reward that results from reading Soorat al-Kahf on Friday is only mentioned for the one who reads the soorah on that day. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever reads Soorat al-Kahf on Friday, Allah will bestow upon him light between those two Fridays.” Narrated by al-Bayhaqi; classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani (may Allah have mercy on him) in Saheeh al-Jaami‘.

It is well-known that the one who listens to a soorah is not regarded as having read it. Based on that, if a person wants the reward that is mentioned in the hadith, then he has to read Soorat al-Kahf, and it is not enough just to listen to it.

But if a person cannot read Qur’an well, so he listens to it being recited by someone else, seeking the reward that has been mentioned for that, then there is the hope that he will have the same reward as the one who reads it, because of his good intention and doing what he is able to do.

And Allah knows best.

✒Al-Afwan islamic organisation
Mysore

💌↪↪your question:
⏩What was the hairstyle of the Prophet ? And what hairstyles are disallowed specifically ?

Answer👇👇👇
Praise be to Allaah.
The hairstyle of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is mentioned in a number of ahaadeeth, such as the following:

1 – His hair was neither curly nor straight.

It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik said, describing the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), he was of average height, neither very tall nor very short. He had a ruddy complexion, neither very white nor very dark, and his hair was neither curly nor straight. The revelation came to him when he was forty years old.

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3354; Muslim, 2338)

2 – His hair came down to his earlobes.

It was narrated that al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allaah hbe pleased with him) said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was of average height and broad shouldered. He had hair that came down to his earlobes. I saw him wearing a red garment and I never saw anyone more handsome than him.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3358; Muslim, 2337

3 – His hair sometimes came down to his shoulders

It was narrated that Qutaadah said: I asked Anas ibn Maalik (may Allaah be pleased with him) about the hair of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said, The hair of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was neither curly nor straight, and came down to a point between his ears and his shoulders.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5565; Muslim, 2337

According to another report, his hair used to touch his shoulders.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5563; Muslim, 2338

Sometimes his hair was shorter than that. All of this may be understood as referring to different situations, and each of the Sahaabah narrated what he had seen.

4 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to dye his hair sometimes.

It was narrated that ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Moohib said: I entered upon Umm Salamah and she brought out to us one of the hairs of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which was dyed.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5558.

Ahmad (25328) added: … dyed with henna and katam.

Katam is a plant that is used to dye the hair. When mixed with henna it gives the hair a colour between black and red. See ‘Awn al-Ma’bood, commentary on hadeeth no. 4205

5 – He used to part his hair.

It was narrated from ‘Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to let his hair hang down over his forehead and the mushrikoon used to part their hair, and the People of the Book used to let their hair hang down over their foreheads. The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) liked to be like the People of the Book in matters where there was no specific command. Then the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) parted his hair.

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3365; Muslim, 2336). Some of the scholars discussed the meaning of this hadeeth, and their comments were summed up by Imam al-Nawawi as follows:

The correct view is that both letting the hair hang down over the forehead and parting it are permissible, but that parting is better.

Sharh Muslim, 15/90

6 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did his Farewell Pilgrimage when his hair was stuck together.

(This means) making some parts of the hair stick to others using gum or something similar, so that the hair is held together and avoids getting dirty and does not need to be washed. This is easier for the person who is in ihraam, especially in the past when the person in ihram was faced with a lot of dirt and little water.

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: I saw the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) raising his voice in the Talbiyah, with his hair stuck together.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5570; Muslim, 1184

7 – The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sometimes used to braid his hair, especially when travelling, to keep it from getting dusty.

It was narrated that Umm Haani’ said: The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) came from Makkah with four braids.

Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 1781; Abu Dawood, 4191; Ibn Maajah, 3631. Classed as saheeh by al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari, 10/360.

With regard to the kinds of hairstyles that are forbidden, they are characterized by the following:

1 – al-Qaza’ (lit. tufts), which is where part of the head is shaved and part is left.

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Umar that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) forbade al-qaza’.

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 5466; Muslim, 3959.

One of the narrators of this hadeeth defines al-qaza’ as shaving part of a child’s head and leaving some of his hair.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:

With regard to shaving part of the head and leaving part, this is of varying degrees.

The worst is shaving the middle of the head and leaving the sides, as the Christian monks do.

After that comes shaving the sides and leaving the middle, as many of the foolish and worthless people do.

After that comes shaving the front of the head and leaving the back.

These three types all come under the heading of qaza’ which was forbidden by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but some of them are worse than others.

Ahkaam Ahl al-Dhimmah, 3/1294

2 – Imitating the kaafirs or immoral people.

There are many such hairstyles, some of which come under the heading of qaza’ – such as the “Marines” haircut, which is forbidden for two reasons, the fact that it is a kind of qaza’ and the fact that it is an imitation of the kuffaar. Some of them do not involve qaza’ but they are styles that belong to the kuffaar, such as making some of the hair stand up and letting the rest hang down, and so on.

This also includes every hairstyle that belongs to the kaafirs or immoral people, because it is not permissible for a Muslim to resemble them in that, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Whoever imitates a people is one of them.”

Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4031. Classed as hasan by al-Haafiz ibn Hajar in Fath al-Baari, 10/271. its isnaad was classed as jayyid by Shaykh al-Islam in Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, p. 82.

Shaykh al-Islam said:

The least that we can say about this hadeeth is that it implies that it is haraam to imitate them, although the apparent meaning is that the one who imitates them is a kaafir, as in the verse (interpretation of the meaning):

“And if any amongst you takes them (as Awliyaa’), then surely, he is one of them”

[al-Maa’idah 5:51]

Iqtida’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, p. 83.

💌↪↪Your question:
How to perform salat-al-istiqhara? And its importance..

Answer
👇👇👇
The description of Salaat al-Istikhaarah was reported by Jaabir ibn ‘Abd-Allaah al-Salami (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said:

“The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to teach his companions to make istikhaarah in all things, just as he used to teach them soorahs from the Qur’aan. He said: ‘If any one of you is concerned about a decision he has to make, then let him pray two rak’ahs of non-obligatory prayer, then say: Allaahumma inni astakheeruka bi ‘ilmika wa astaqdiruka bi qudratika wa as’aluka min fadlika, fa innaka taqdiru wa laa aqdir, wa ta’lamu wa laa a’lam, wa anta ‘allaam al-ghuyoob. Allaahumma fa in kunta ta’lamu haadha’l-amra (then the matter should be mentioned by name) khayran li fi ‘aajil amri wa aajilihi (or: fi deeni wa ma’aashi wa ‘aaqibati amri) faqdurhu li wa yassirhu li thumma baarik li fihi. Allaahumma wa in kunta ta’lamu annahu sharrun li fi deeni wa ma’aashi wa ‘aaqibati amri (or: fi ‘aajili amri wa aajilihi) fasrifni ‘anhu [wasrafhu ‘anni] waqdur li al-khayr haythu kaana thumma radini bihi (O Allaah, I seek Your guidance [in making a choice] by virtue of Your knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are the Knower of hidden things. O Allaah, if in Your knowledge, this matter (then it should be mentioned by name) is good for me both in this world and in the Hereafter (or: in my religion, my livelihood and my affairs), then ordain it for me, make it easy for me, and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge it is bad for me and for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs (or: for me both in this world and the next), then turn me away from it, [and turn it away from me], and ordain for me the good wherever it may be and make me pleased with it.”

(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 6841; similar reports are also recorded by al-Tirmidhi, al-Nisaa’i, Abu Dawood, Ibn Maajah and Ahmad).

Ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy on him) said, commenting on this hadeeth:

“Istikhaarah is a word which means asking Allaah to help one make a choice, meaning choosing the best of two things where one needs to choose one of them.

Concerning the phrase ‘The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to teach us to make istikhaarah in all things,’ Ibn Abi Jamrah said: ‘It is a general phrase which refers to something specific. With regard to matters that are waajib (obligatory) or mustahabb (liked or encouraged), there is no need for istikhaarah to decide whether to do them, and with regard to matters that are haraam (forbidden) or makrooh (disliked), there is no need for istikhaarah to decide whether to avoid them. The issue of istikhaarah is confined to matters that are mubaah (allowed), or in mustahabb matters when there is a decision to be made as to which one should be given priority.’ I say: it refers to both great and small matters, and probably an insignificant issue could form the groundwork for a big issue.

The phrase ‘If any one of you is concerned…’ appears in the version narrated by Ibn Mas’ood as: ‘if any one of you wants to do something…’

‘Let him pray two rak’ahs of non-obligatory prayer.’ This is mentioned to make it clear that it does not mean fajr prayer, for example. Al-Nawawi said in al-Adhkaar: He can pray istikaarah after two rak’ahs of regular sunnah prayer done at zuhr for example, or after two rak’ahs of any naafil prayers whether they are regularly performed or not… It seems to be the case that if he made the intention to pray istikhaarah at the same time as intending to pray that particular prayer, this is fine, but not if he did not have this intention.

Ibn Abi Jamrah said: The wisdom behind putting the salaat before the du’aa’ is that istikhaarah is intended to combine the goodness of this world with the goodness of the next. A person needs to knock at the door of the King (Allaah), and there is nothing more effective for this than prayer, because it contains glorification and praise of Allaah, and expresses one's need for Him at all times.

The phrase ‘then let him say’ would seem to imply that the du’aa’ should be said after finishing the prayer, and the word thumma (then) probably means after reciting all the words of the salaat and before saying salaam.

The phrase ‘O Allaah, I seek Your guidance by virtue of Your knowledge’ is explaining ‘because You know best.’ Similarly, ‘by virtue of Your power’ most likely means ‘seeking Your help.’ ‘I seek ability’ (astaqdiruka) means ‘I ask You to give me the power or ability (qudrah) to do’ whatever is being asked for, or it probably means ‘I ask You to decree (tuqaddir) this for me.’ So it may mean making it easy.

‘I ask You of Your great bounty’ refers to the fact that Allaah gives out of His great generosity, but no one has the right to His blessings. This is the opinion of Ahl al-Sunnah.

‘You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not’ refers to the fact that power and knowledge belong to Allaah alone, and the slave has no share of them except what Allaah decrees for him.

‘O Allaah, if in Your knowledge this matter…’ According to one report, he should mention it by name. It is apparent from the context that he should state it, but it is probably sufficient to be thinking of the matter whilst making this du’aa’.

‘Then ordain it for me’ means ‘make it happen for me’ or it may mean ‘make it easy for me.’

‘Then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it’ means ‘so that my heart will no longer feel attached to it after it has been turned away.’

‘Make me pleased with it’ means ‘make me content with it, so that I will never regret asking for it or be sorry that it happened, because I do not know how it will turn out, even if at the time of asking I am pleased with it.’

The secret is that one’s heart should not be attached to the matter in question, because that will result in a person becoming restless. Being pleased with something means that one’s heart is content with the decree of Allaah.

(Summarized from the commentary of al-Haafiz Ibn Hijr (may Allaah have mercy on him) on the hadeeth in Saheeh al-Bukhaari, Kitaab al-Da’waat and Kitaab al-Tawheed.).