بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمَـٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

This is the continuation of the series, that focuses on implementing sunnah in our lives. In the last post, we talked about the manners of sleeping. In this post, we will look at the Sunnahs of sneezing and yawning:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah loves sneezing but dislikes yawning; so if anyone of you sneezes and then praises Allah, every Muslim who hears him (praising Allah) has to say Tashmit to him. But as regards yawning, it is from Satan, so if one of you yawns, he should try his best to stop it, for when anyone of you yawns, Satan laughs at him." [Bhukari: English reference: Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 245. Arabic reference : Book 78, Hadith 6298]

Click here to show evidences/reference links

Sneezing:

• Saying 'May Allah Have Mercy on You' to the person who sneezed. [Bhukari: 241]. This is to be done only after the sneezer praises Allah (i.e. says Alhumdullilah) [Bhukari: Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 241][Muslim Book 42, Hadith 7127]
• After the sneezer hears someone say "May Allah have mercy on you",  it is sunnah for him to say "May Allah guide you and rectify your situation" or "May Allah have mercy on us and you, and may He forgive us and you" [Bhukari: Vol. 8, Book 73, Hadith 243] [Muwattaa Imam Malik: Book 54, Hadith 5]
• One should try to keep the sound of his sneeze as low as possible "Whenever the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) sneezed, he would cover his mouth with his hand or a piece of cloth, suppressing the sound this way. [Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi]"
• One should say "May Allah have mercy on you" for three sneezes. If the other person sneezes more than that, then he has a cold. [Muwatta Imam Malik: Book 54, Hadith 4]

Manners of Yawning:

• One should try to suppress yawn [Muslim: Book 42, Hadith 7129] [Bhukari: Vol 4, Book 54, Hadith 509]
• Its better to cover mouth with hand (http://sunnah.com/urn/271320)

Tip of the Week:

"You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action.” Anthony Robbins. All of us probably know many of these manners of sneezing and yawning but the problem is that we don't practice what we know. Make it your goal that for the next seven days, you will practice what you learnt in this post!

Action Item:

1. Share this post on social networks.
2. Review the old posts in the series

References:

• The Book of Manners by Fuad Ibn Abdul-Azeez
• Riyad Saliheen - Book of Greetings
• IslamQA - #145679

Previous Post in this Series:

• Week 1 - On Waking Up
• Week2 - Entering and After Entering the Washroom
• Week3 - On Coming out of Washroom and Making Ablution
• Week4 - Duas after the Salah
• Week 5 - Making dua, Having breakfast and Responding to Adhan
• Week 6 - Dressing Up, Walking
• A Siwaak a Day
• O Boy - Ya Ghulam!
• Manners of Sleeping

Here is the sunnah items, we will be focusing on in this week:

Making Dua:

• Raise your hands
• Glorify and praise Allah, in the beginning and at the end
• Send salutations on Prophet (May Allah Peace and Blessing be on him) in the beginning and at the end
• Cry while making dua

Adhaan:

• Respond to it (see the first dua here)
• Make salutation on the prophet (May Allah Peace and Blessing be on him)
• Make dua (last one on this page)

Breakfast:

• Mix honey in water and drink it
• Eat 7 Ajwa Dates

Tip of the Week:

But things like this and this one for your kids

Action Item:

1. Memorize the duas from the sunnah: Mashary Qunoot Dua, Alhuda Masnoon Duas Collection, Saad al Ghamdi Qunoot Dua – Learn some ways to praise and glorify Allah in the duas

Inshallah, next week, we will look at the sunnah on wearing clothes and going out of the house

Previous Post in this Series:

• Week 1 - On Waking Up
• Week2 – Entering and After Entering the Washroom
• Week3 – On Coming out of Washroom and Making Ablution
• Week4 – Duas after the Salah

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International (download link)

After the fard salahs:

• After slautation, say Allahu Akbar in loud voice
• Say “Astagfirullah” thrice in low voice
• Recite “Ayat Kursi”
• Read the morning and evening supplications after farjar and asar prayers (Another Link)
• Recite other Adhkars and Supplications
• Pray the two rakahs of ishraq after the fajar prayer (The Messenger of Allah [SAWS] said, “Whoever prays the dawn prayer (fajr) in a group and then sits and does dhikr until the sun rises, then prays two rakas, shall have the like of the reward of a hajj and an umra.”)

Tip of the Week:

Get some nice colorful cards/sticky notes. Put the relevant information and stick them in various places in the house as reminders.  For example, summarize the sunnahs about using the washroom that we have learnt in previous weeks, put it on the card and stick it on the washroom mirror or door.

Action Item:

1. Share this post with 5 other people and get the ajar. Post on facebook, twitter, email etc

Previous Post in this Series:

• Week 1 - On Waking Up
• Week2 – Entering and After Entering the Washroom
• Week3 – On Coming out of Washroom and Making Ablution

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International

On Coming Out of Washroom:

• Exit with Right Foot first
• Say the dua

Making Ablution:

• Say Bismillah
• Do the Mishwaak
• Run water through the fingers
• Put water in the nose
• Say the Sahada after finishing
• Say the dua
• Pray 2 rakahs of tayatul whudoo

Tip of the Week:

Imagination is a powerful tool for motivation. Close your eyes, envision yourself at the end of this series. Things you learned in this series have now become your second nature. Imagine yourself practicing these!

Action Item:

1. Make a sincere dua now and ask Allah to help you this week in applying the Sunnah

Previous Post in this Series:

• Week 1 - On Waking Up
• Week2 – Entering and After Entering the Washroom

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International

Entering the Washroom:

• Enter with slippers/shoes
• Make the dua
• Enter with Left foot

After Entering the Washroom:

• Remove your clothes(trouser, pants) after sitting down or when near to the floor
• Use left hand for washing private part
• Avoid the urine drops
• After finishing, sit for a while and then stand up

Tip of the Week:

Try to get someone else involved with you (friend, family member etc), so that you can remind, compete and check up on each other.  It’s easy for shaitan to distract us when we are working alone but harder when we work as group.

Action Item:

1. Make a plan on how will you implement and work on this week’s sunnah item.

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International

Previous Post in this Series:

• Week 1

لَّقَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ فِي رَسُولِ اللَّـهِ أُسْوَةٌ

حَسَنَةٌ لِّمَن كَانَ يَرْجُو اللَّـهَ وَ

وَذَكَرَ اللَّـهَ كَثِيرًا

Translation:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allah an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allah and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allah often.[Surah Al-Ahzab, verses 21]

The oxford dictionary defines the word ‘role model‘ as “A person looked to by others as an example to be imitated.” Indeed, our beloved prophet, has left us with the best examples, to be emulated. Take any part of your life, be it be eating, drinking, walking, sleeping, and you will find the best example in the life of our Prophet. He remembered Allah all the time.
It is by practicing and applying these sunnahs in our lives, that we can be successful in this life and the next. Amazingly, scientific research is now showing us the benefit and wisdom behind some of the acts of the prophet. For example, this article and this one discuss various scientific benefits of Prophet’s sleeping habits.  This article, benefits of sunnah way of drinking water in the light of medical science.

Inshallah, we would be starting the blog series, where we will gradually learn and implement the sunnah of our beloved Prophet (SAW).

Here are the few tips that will help us in this journey:

1. Practice, Practice, Practice.  Practice and apply these things daily so that they become part of our nature and habit. Like anything in life, for first few times, you have to consciously work hard on carrying out the exact steps, but after a while it all becomes automatic. I still remember my first few driving lessons. In the beginning, I had to think about when to apply brakes, check blind spot, mirrors etc, but then with practice, all of this became automatic.

2. Take small steps at a time, instead of trying to do it all. As our beloved prophet informed us that the the acts most pleasing to Allah are those which are done continuously, even if they are small.

3. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. We need to have a plan on how will we practice each sunnah: which part of the day, how many times a day, which time etc. For instance, “I will practice the sunnah of eating everyday at dinner”

Inshallah, in this series, we will cover the following things from Sunnah (total 20! ):

Waking up, entering washroom, after entering the washroom, exiting from the washroom, while making whudoo, during the adhaan, after the prayers, while making dua, during breakfast, wearing clothes, leaving for work, walking, entering the market place, entering home, eating, drinking, before sleeping, during sleep, giving salutation, in hardship and sickness, dealing with important matters.

Are you excited? I am! As you can see from the list above, our beloved Prophet (May Allahs peace and blessing be upon him) left us with guidance in all aspects of our life.

Inshallah, each week we will focus on 2 – 3 categories, so that within few months, we will be able to truly bring sunnah into our lives.

Here is the first one for this week:

On Waking Up:

• Wipe your face and eyes with hands
• Make dua
• Blow your nose thrice
• Do a good Miswaak

Action Item:

1. Make a plan on how will you implement and work on this week sunnah item.

References:

Booklet: Sunnah Checklist – published by Alhuda International

Series Articles Links:

• Week 1 - On Waking Up
• Week2 – Entering and After Entering the Washroom
• Week3 – On Coming out of Washroom and Making Ablution
• Week4 – Duas after the Salah
• Week 5 – Making dua, Having breakfast and Responding to Adhan

And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a mercy to the worlds. [21:107]

In the last post, we looked at how our beloved prophet (SAW) set for us an excellent example as a father. Inshallah, continuing with the theme, in this post, we will explore two more roles:  uncle and the master.

Treatment with niece

• After the Taif Campaign, one of the captives As-Shaima, the daughter of Al-Harith As-Sadiya, the Messenger’s foster sister was brought to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) , she introduced herself to him. Upon recognizing her by a certain mark, he honored her, spread for her his garment and seated her on it. He was graceful and released her and made her turn back to her people. [The Sealed Nectar]

Amazing! For those of us, who have the nieces, do we treat them with the respect, honor and love? How about with our own sisters? Note that As-Shaima was the daughter of the foster sister and yet the prophet (SAW) treated her with so much kindness.

Treatment with servant:

• Anas reported that Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) had the best disposition amongst people. He sent me on an errand one day, and I said:  By Allah, I would not go. I had, however, this idea in my mind that I would do as Allah’s Apostle (may peace be upon him) had commanded me to do. I went out until I happened to come across children who had been playing in the street. In the meanwhile, Allah’s Messenger (may peace be upon him) came there and he caught me by the back of my neck from behind me. As I looked towards him I found him smiling and he said: Unais, did you go where I commanded you to go? I said: Allah’s Messenger, yes, I am going. Anas further said: I served him for nine years but I know not that he ever said to me about a thing which I had done why I did that, or about a thing I had left as to why I had not done that. [Muslim]

Subhanallah, how many of us actually do that? When we are given a position of authority, be it be at work (supervisor, manager, business owners) or at home, how do we treat the people under us? Are we gentle, merciful and forgiving. We need to learn from our beloved Prophet (SAW).

We live in a time where it is difficult to truly imagine ourselves being under anyone else’s control, even though we know our every breath, our every step, our every movement is fully controlled by the Creator of the heavens and the Earth. Nonetheless, we still find it difficult to imagine a day where freedom will be taken away, completely. Today, even under these ‘controlled’ environments, Allah has permitted freedom to mankind; we can speak, eat, see, walk, sit, touch, and listen as we please. However, in the Hereafter on the Day of Judgement, the freedom of mankind will indeed be taken away and the supremacy of Allah subhanhu wa ta’ala will be shown. On that Day, Allah will reign King over all the other so-called kings and humans, and He will control His environment in a matter that He wills. On that Day, we will not cease from standing until certain questions are answered.

How many of us are able to actualize the reality of this event? Just imagine not having the ability to move even the slightest bit on that day. Imagine…feet being stuck to the ground and not having the ability to lift them, even with full attempts to do so. Just imagine, with all the anxiety, stress and fear of that day, you will stand in front of Allah and He will directly ask you about four things: 1) Your life 2) Your knowledge 3) Your wealth 4) Your body

There will be no escaping on that day in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. We will be asked and we will answer; whether we like it or not, whether the answers are pleasing or not. Let’s push and struggle to be of those whose answers will be pleasing to Him, subhana. Let’s make the sincere intention to make our lives a means to come closer to Allah, let’s use the knowledge we gain to worship Him in a manner that befits His majesty, let’s use our wealth to give zakat and charity, and let’s use our bodies to do all kinds of good deeds for His sake.

As you know, we cannot just accept a hadith from anyone–this is our deen! If anyone could just say what they wanted, we would have nothing left of the true, pure message of Allah.

The scholars have analyzed the biographies of every narrator of hadith. They compile information on when he was born, and where, his kunya, his tribe, who he met, what his character was, what other people narrated about him … piles and piles of information.

And in the analysis of the chain of narrators–those individuals who transmit a hadith from one to another, from Rasulullah (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) to a collector (like Imam Bukhari, Imam Muslim, etc.)–there are certain types of narrators that, if they are present in the chain, they automatically make the hadith da’eef.

Because they cannot be trusted.

Who are these people, and what are their characteristics? You might be surprised!

1. Major Sinners. Anyone who commited a major sin (backbiting? Listening to music? Zina? Cheating? Stealing?) is discounted. Only people known for good, upright, moral character and conduct pass through.
2. Liars. Anyone who lies is discounted.
3. Accused Liars. Anyone who was accused of lying is discounted. Why? Throws some doubt on their character–maybe they did it, maybe not. Cannot be trusted.
4. The Weak. Anyone whom a scholar met and said that he’s weak, or he’s not good, or his memory is not strong, automatically discounts a hadith.
5. Known Fabricators. Some people are known to fabricate (invent) hadith, either by observation of scholars, or by their own admission (such as Nuh ibn Abi Maryam). They disqualify a hadith.
6. The Unknown. Anyone whom the scholars do not know for sure if he’s a strong or weak narrator, disqualifies the hadith. Why? Maybe he’s weak! We don’t know! We know he narrated a hadith, and maybe a couple of people met him; but nobody commented to say he’s a strong narrator; so we don’t know!

Subhanallah, if you look at that list–especially the first three items–you will realize that the majority of Muslims today would disqualify ahadith that they narrate. I’m not talking about shuyookh, I mean the people you deal with day-to-day–yourself, your family, your friends.

Subhanallah, that’s how particular and picky the scholars of hadith were to preserve our deen! May Allah accept all their efforts and make us among the righteous people (ameen).

Action Steps:

• Reflect on these criteria. Ask yourself, seriously: would I be cause for ahadith to be disqualified from being saheeh?
• Make du’a for the scholars, especially the scholars of hadith. They’ve done a hard, difficult, long, thankless job; only Allah knows how much they did. Ask Him to reward them insha’Allah ameen. (Just raise your hands and do it right now, it just takes a few seconds.)

Wallahu ‘alam.

Lecture: Introduction to Mustalah-Hadeeth by shaykh Suhaib Hasan Abdul-Ghaffaar. Available free from http://islamlecture.com/mustalah.htm.

(Ok, for the answer to the last question, read and learn about the science of hadith. In a sentence: Scholars have devised an extremely rigorous process to determine which hadith are authentic, and which are not. You wouldn’t want to spend your whole life following a “hadith,” only to find out it really wasn’t legit, do you?)

A mursal hadith is a hadith where the chain only goes up to a tabi’ee. (So the hadith goes: X narrated, from Y, from Z, … from such-and-such a tabi’een.) Tabi’een are the generation after the companions–they are the sons and daughters and followers of Islam who came after the sahaba. Most hadith continue–the tabi’ee will narrate from a sahaba, who will narrate directly from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

So mursal ahadith are ahadith where the chain cuts off at the tab’iee level; it doesn’t go directly to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

And why is this important? Because a tabi’ee can narrate from another tabi’ee! It doesn’t necessarily mean that they heard it directly from a sahaba, who heard it from the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم).

So the ruling on mursal ahadith? They are considered as da’eef ahadith. All the same rulings apply.

For example, in the issue of “does laughing in salaah break your wudoo?,” imam Abu Hanifa says yes, and cites a mursal hadith as his proof. The majority of scholars disagree, and insha’Allah this is the correct opinion–why?

Because the hadith is mursal (i.e. da’eef), and it contradicts shari’ah principles–why would it break your wudoo inside salaah, but not if you laugh outside salaah? (And these are not the only proofs; only a taste of the discussion.)

Wallahu ‘alam.

Abdul-Bary Yahya. Lecture. AlMaghrib. The Purification Act. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2006.