Question: If the sky is cloudy and there is no
rain or mud, but the rain is expected, is it permissible to combine prayers?
Response: It is not permissible to combine (prayers)
in this case, because the expectation is not realistic and how many cases in
which people expect rain due to the intensity of the clouds, then it disperses
and does not rain
Source:
Majmoo’ Fataawaa Ash-Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (15 /393), translated by
Abdus-Samee' Abdus-Salaam.
Allah
- glorified is He – created our forefather Aadam – peace be upon him – with His
Hand and gave him life. He also taught him the names of all things and made the
angels bow down to him to recognize Allah’s favour on him since he knew what
they did not know. He – glorious is He – made Aadam stay in the Paradise
together with his wife out of His mercy on him.
As
for Iblees, he received the order to bow down to Aadam – peace be upon him –
but rather defied and refused the divine order, becoming accursed and condemned
for all day to ever come! Out of sheer envy and spite against Aadam – peace be
upon him – Iblees vowed to mislead Aadam and ensure that he was expelled from
the Paradise; he did!
Carrying the intense hate for Aadam further, instead of asking to
be forgiven by the Most Merciful – glorious is He -, Iblees rather asked to be
left alive to ensure that he misleads the descendants of Aadam – peace be upon
him – till the end of time! He vowed to assault them from all angles employing
both fear and enticements, worry, ambiguities and confusion such that many of
them will fail to show gratitude to Allah – the Almighty – and join him in the
abyss of condemnation! And many have fallen prey!
Two
among the children of Aadam – peace be upon him – offered sacrifice to Allah –
glorious is He -. While one gave the sacrifice sincerely for the sake of Allah
– the Almighty - and so had it accepted, the other did not give his sacrifice
out of piety and it was consequently not accept. Quite badly, the one whose
sacrifice was not accepted rather than seek repentance for his own misdeed
became jealous of his brother and aggressed against him threatening to kill
him. Despite every invitation to goodness and reason that he should not carry
out the threat, he grudgingly fatally killed his own brother! He started the
grievous crime of murder out of envy and hate and will ever bear from the
burdens of all such evil acts till the end of time.
A
man came to Abdullah bin Abbaas – may Allah be pleased with him - and said, “I
asked a woman to marry me and she refused to marry me. Another man asked her
and she agreed to marry him. I became jealous and killed her”! The fit of
jealousy evokes intense anger, hostility and abhorrence in the envious against
his victim, for reasons for which the victim himself is not guilty.
What
was Aadam’s fault with Iblees for which he declared an everlasting enmity
against him and his descendants?! Was Aadam’s son at fault because he gave his
sacrifice out of righteousness?! How does a woman become guilty to accept to
marry a person she desires?! How does a person become guilty because Allah –
glorious is He – has bestowed favours on him?!
Because
we all enjoy one favour or the other from Allah and would have to relate with
kith and kin, colleagues, neighbours and people, generally speaking, who might
not have been blessed with the same favours, or who may even enjoy the same
favours and greater ones but dislike that any other than them is blessed with
the same favours, we become guiltless victims of very negative attitudes from
these persons.
They discredit your accomplishments and downplay your success as if
your progress sets them back or that something was taken from them. Your
failures make them happier than their own success! They give you grudge bearing
looks, abuse you verbally through innuendos or even hurl insults and
unprintable words at you. Fueled by jealousy and abhorrence for you, they could
direct physical abuses of unimaginable degrees to you and anyone around you;
just to reach you and cause you hurt!
Source:
20 Ways of Handling Hate, by Shaykh al-Islam Ahmad Ibn Taimiyyah;
translated by Abu Naasir Ibrahim Abdur-Rauf.
