Umm Sulayman

Prophet Yunus (Jonah). (alayhi salaam) Overwhelmed by layers of darkness; darknesses of the sea, the night and the stomach of the whale, Prophet Yunus (alayhi salaam) never lost hope in Allah’s Mercy. He had none to call out to except Him (subhanahu wa ta’ala), and he truthfully did: وَذَا النُّونِ إِذ ذَّهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَّن نَّقْدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَىٰ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنتَ سُبْحَانَكَ إِنِّي كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّالِمِينَ And [mention] the man of the fish, when he went off in anger and thought that We would not decree [anything] upon him. And he called out within the darknesses,”There is no deity except You; exalted are You. Indeed, I have been of the wrongdoers.” (al-Anbiyaa21:87) From the depth of the ocean, his lips moved in a supplication that we recite till this day in the Book of Allah. This is the same supplication that our Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) prescribed for he who is distressed: لاَّ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ أَنتَ سُبْحَـنَكَ إِنِّى كُنتُ مِنَ الظَّـلِمِينَ Laa illaaha illa Anta Subhanaka inni kuntu min adh-dhalimeen There is nothing worthy of worship but You, How exalted You are above all that they associate with You! Truly, I have been of the wrongdoers. The Prophet (sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam) said about it: “No Muslim ever prays to his Lord with these words for anything, but He will answer his prayer.” (Ahmad) And in another report: “I know words that will cause Allah to remove one’s distress. These are the words (of supplication) of my brother Yunus, peace be upon him.” (Tirmidhi) When Yunus (alayhi salaam) released such powerful words, Allah’s Help arrived: فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْغَمِّ وَكَذَلِكَ نُنجِي الْمُؤْمِنِينَ So We responded to him and saved him from the distress. And thus do We save the believers. (al-Anbiyaa 21:88)

“It is indeed more powerful against the Shaytaan than iron.”

Shaykh Al-Albaanee said:

He (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would spread his left palm upon his left knee and clench all of the fingers of his right hand, point with the finger adjacent to the thumb towards the qiblah and cast his vision towards it. When he pointed his finger, he would put his thumb upon his middle finger and sometimes he would make a circle with them. When he raised his finger he would move it, supplicating with it, and he would say:

“It is indeed more powerful against the Shaytaan than iron.”

(He said this) referring to the forefinger. And the companions of the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would remind each other (i.e. about pointing with the finger when supplicating). And he (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) would do this in both Tashahhuds. Once he (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) saw a man supplicating with two fingers so he said to him:

“One. One.”

And he pointed with his index finger.

Explanation

Shaykh Muhammad Bazmool said:

This chapter contains a number of issues. They are as follows:

The First Issue: Description of the placing the left hand upon the left thigh. He (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) would place his left hand upon his left thigh and spread his left palm upon the left knee, clenching the fingers of the left hand.

The Second Issue: The Description of the right palm. As for the right palm, he would place the right hand upon the right thigh, clenching the fingers of the right hand. And in this clenching of the fingers there are two descriptions.

The first description: That he would join all of the fingers together, with the exception of the index finger, or the finger of testification, which he would extend. So he would grasp all of the fingers, clasping the fingers to the middle of the palm, and would place the thumb upon the middle finger.

The second description is that he would make the fingers just as has preceded except that he would form a circle with the thumb and the middle fingers. This is the second description, for the pinkie and the ring finger would be affixed to the middle of the palm, and the middle finger would be with the thumb, in the form of a circle. And the index finger of testification would be straight such that he would point with it to the direction of the qiblah.

The Third Issue: I say: He (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) would point with this finger towards the direction of the qiblah and set his gaze towards it. Meaning: He would look, while pointing, towards this finger. So he would not look towards the place of prostration, nor would he look in front of him. He would only look towards his finger. This is the Sunnah, as it relates to this sitting.

The Fourth Issue: He (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) would point with it then move it. And this movement is a very slight movement and does not reach the point of raising it and lowering it as some of the youth do. Nor does it reach the point of a movement to the right or to the left. It is only a very slight movement, this is the meaning of his statement: “…He would move it and supplicate with it.”

The Fifth Issue: The worshipper is to continue pointing and slightly moving his finger all the while he is saying the Tashahhud. This is because the entire Tashahhud is a supplication. The notification has already preceded regarding the fact that supplication is of two types: supplication of request and asking, and supplication of glorification and magnification. The Tashahhud contains supplication of request and asking and it also contains supplication of magnification and glorification. The meaning of this is that the worshipper throughout the entirety of the Tashahhud is to point and supplicate with his finger and he is not to remove it. So when he completes the supplication then the legislation of pointing with the index finger ends as well.

The Sixth Issue: I say: The Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) clarified the wisdom behind this pointing with the index finger. And it is that it is severe against the Shaytaan. There has come in the hadeeth which the author has cited: “It is more severe against the Shaytaan than iron, meaning the index finger.” And there has also come on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar, as is within the collection of Al-Humaydee 1/313 as well as Abu Ya’laa and his Musnad 2/275, as is within the footnote of the Prophet’s Prayer Described, “It is the shooting of Shaytaan, no one will forget when he does this.” meaning, when he points with his index finger while saying At-Tashahhud. Al-Bayhaqee reports in As-Sunan Al-Kubraa 2/132: “On the authority of Al-Waaqidee, who said, ‘Katheer ibn Zayd narrated to us on the authority of Naafi’ from Ibn ‘Umar, that the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “Moving the finger in the prayer terrifies the Shaytaan.” Al-Bayhaqee said: “Muhammad Ibn ‘Umar al-Waaqidee was alone in narrating it. And he is not strong. We have narrated from Mujaahid that he said: ‘The man moving his finger when sitting in the prayer is a suppressor for the Shaytaan.’” And he cited the chain of narration after the report of Mujahid 2/133.

The Seventh Issue: This is a Sunnah in the description of the finger, pointing with it and moving it, during the Tashahhud. The companions would remind each other regarding it, meaning they would draw each other’s attention to it.

The Eighth Issue: This supplication and pointing with the finger is only to be done with the right hand and not the left. So one is not to point with the right finger and the left finger, nor is he to point during the Tashahhud with two fingers. He is only to point with one, and that is the right hand and the right index finger, or finger of testification, from the right hand. Due to that, when the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) saw a man pointing with two fingers he said to him: “One. One.” Meaning with one finger only, not with two fingers nor with two hands, rather with one finger only and with one hand only. And it is the right hand.

The Ninth Issue: Pointing with the finger is an indication of Tawheed, due to the statement of the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam): “One. One.” Al-Bayhaqee reported it 2/132, with its chain of narration from Muqsim Abu al-Qaasim. He said: “A man from the people of Madeenah narrated to me saying, ‘I prayed beside Khaffaaf ibn Aymaa’ ibn Rahdah and he saw me pointing with my finger in the prayer so he said, ‘My dear cousin, why do you do this?’ I said, ‘I saw the best of the people and their jurists doing it.’ He said, ‘You are correct. I saw Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and he used to point with his finger when he sat, saying the Tashahhud within his prayer. And the mushrikoon would say, ‘He is casting a spell on us,’ whereas the Prophet (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) only intended At-Tawheed.”

Within its chain of narration there is ambiguity. Al-Bayahqee reported 2/133, with his chain of narration on the authority of Aboo Ishaq, from Al-‘Eezaar, who said: “Ibn ‘Abbaas was asked about a man supplicating while pointing with his finger, so Ibn Abbass said: “It is al-Ikhlaas (purity, sincerity).” Also he mentioned, with his chain of narration, on the authority of Ibraheem Ibn Abdullaah ibn Ma’bad from Ibn 'Abbaas that Allaah’s Messenger (sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said: “This is al-Ikhlaas (and he pointed with his finger which is adjacent to the thumb), and this is ad-Duaa’ (and he raised his hands parallel to his shoulders), and this is humble supplication (and he raised his hands and cupped them).”

The great scholar, Ibn al-Qayyim, said:

“Those who say that it is obligatory for the woman to serve the husband use (this ayah, i.e Soorah an-Nisaa: 34) as proof in that those who Allaah directed His Speech to (on this occasion) considered this to be from al-ma’roof (good). But as for the woman relaxing and having the husband serve her, sweep, grind the flour, knead the bread, wash the clothes, fix the bed, and serve the household, then that is from al-munkar (evil).”

And Allaah says:

‘And they (women) have rights (over their husbands) similar to those (of their husbands) over them.’

[Soorah al-Baqarah: 228]

A man said to Abu Hāzim (may Allah have mercy upon him): Indeed you are strict. Abu Hāzim (may Allāh have mercy upon him) replied:

Why shouldn’t I be strict when I’m certainly being observed/watched by 14 enemies. As for four of them: A Shaytān (devil) who puts me to trial, a believer who envies me, a disbeliever (who wants to) kill me and a hypocrite who hates me. As for the (remaining) ten, from them are: The matter of hunger, thirst, heat, cold, nakedness, old age, sickness, poverty, death and the hell-fire. I don’t have the ability (to combat them all) except with a complete weapon. And I do not find a weapon to combat them with better than (the weapon of) at-Taqwā (having fear of Allah).

Source: Hilyatul-Awliyā 3/231

“A man is in need of knowledge more than he is in need of bread and meat.“ 

“This worldly life only impresses those with no intellect. Similar to how vain dreams please the sleeper, imaginary games are perceived by a child, whereas a sensible person cannot be deceived by such delusion.”