Saying "I am Salafî", when is it, and when is it not allowed? | Sh Ibn '...

Scholar: Imâm Muhammad bin Sâlih bin ´Uthaymîn
Source: Fatâwâ al-Haram al-Madanî (53)
Reference: Darulhadith.com, Sweden
www.aFatwa.com

Question: What is the ruling on ascribing to the Salaf as-Sâlih and saying that one is Salafî in ‘Aqîdah (creed)?

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymîn: It is obligatory to subscribe to the Salaf since they followed that which the prophet (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) followed.

As for calling oneself “Salafî” intending to establish a sect or subscribe to a sect, then we fight against the sects. We deem that the Islâmic Ummah should be one single group in accordance with the way of the prophet (sallâ Allâhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his companions.

However, if he means by the word “Salafi” that he is following the Salaf without intending to establish a sect that accuses dissidents to be deviant, then this is correct. We’re all Salafiyyûn! We all ask Allâh to allow us to die upon the way of the Salaf. We ask Allâh for it.

To establish a sect by the name “Salafî”, or some other by the name “Ikhwânî”, or a third by the name “Tablîghî” and so on is not something I deem to be allowed. Did the companions divide in this way? No. The one who says the opposite has to prove it.

Still losing on the fast 5 diet

Its been another month on the fast 5 diet and I managed to lose another 6 pounds. I started on the 24th of january @ 193.5lb. I now weigh 181.2lb, maa sha Allah. This makes a total of 12lb in 2 months; not a lot, but I intend to stick to it until I reach my goal weight one day insha Allah. I was off the diet for some days during the month when I was down with tonsilitis and had to take antibiotics for 7 days. I have not been having my daily walks for some time as well because of the wind and sandstorm we've had here for some time. So, I think I would have lost a little more if not for these constraints. I hope to reach my goal weight of 150lb by the month of Ramadaan insha Allah. 

My kids are on their mid semester break and we had some guests from another town visiting for 5 days. It was so much fun to have an adult female  company in the same house for 5 days. We cooked and cleaned together and went places together. When it was time for bthem to leave, they were so reluctant to pack and we also wished they could stay around for a few more days. We were all thankful for the opportunity and look forward to having more of it insha Allah.

I am generally taking life easy and not putting pressure on myself, my hb or the kids about anything dunya as much as possible. No more dwelling on what  I need or want or what I dont have or wish others to do for/to me or not. I thought I was traumatised enough about Tahera's death until my friend who came here for a visit told me about a sister I know back home, a married mother of 2 who was run down by a car and ended up with spinal chord injury. She is now confined to a wheelchair and lost the ability to control her bladder and bowels. She cannot feel anything from the armpit down to her feet and needs to be taken care of by others 24/7. Needs to be cleaned and given a shower and had to beg some family members to take her little kids in because she can't take care of them herself. Her brother who is a doctor rented an apartmet for her and got her a maid who he pays for and he is the one who pays for most of her expenses   including adult diapers which are quite expensive over there. I mean this sister does not know she has defecated until she perceives the smell and then she calls someone to come help clean and change her just like a baby. The sister who told me is a doctor and she said the loss of continence due to spinal injury is an irreversible thing so she would remain like that for the rest of her life. I don't think she is even thirty years old yet! Everyone tries as much as possible to avoid spending time with her including her husband and her mum. They go to visit her but could not make themselves to as much as pass the night with her. She has cried so much at her misfortune until her tears dried up and could no longer cry. And I thought I had issues, subhanAllah. I now realize there are some situations which are more difficult to handle than death and if not for Islam she would probably have taken her life by now. I was a complete mess by the time I finished listening to the sister and even wished she had not told me. I pray Allah strengthens the sister's heart and protect her from saying things or asking questions that may count as blasphemy because it would be difficult not to wonder "why me" in her situation. I pray Allah gives her loads of sabr in her affliction and reward each and every pain and discomfort she is having, whether physical or emotional with the ultimate reward; Jannah.

The line between life and death is thin...

So I have had a lot of random thoughts in my head after I heard about the death of Tahera. Firstly, Tahera is (I somehow can't bring myself to type was) a pious muslimah who I met around 2 years ago  in the afternoon quran school for women and children. She was new in town because her family had just moved here from Pakistan few months before that time. She was in the process of enrolling her kids in the American school here because her children could not speak arabic. Few months later, we met at the shopping mall and I asked her about her children's school, how they are coping in the American school, to my surprise, she told me she has pulled her kids out of the school because it does not meet the moral standards she wanted for her kids. She later took them to the Pakistani school only to pull them out after some months again for the same reasons as the american school. To solve the problem, Tahera brought the kids with her to the tafeez school I go in the morning after I stopped the afternoon classes at which we met. Most of her friends questioned her about her decision to pull  her kids out of school and take them with her to a quran school, but she calmly explained that that was her best option for now. She sends the kids, a 6th grader and a 3rd grader to her friend who does home tutoring as a business in the afternoon to be able to keep up with what they ought to learn in a regular school. This, to me, shows a level of piety not commonly found among people in this age where most of us will compromise a little deen and morality here and there for our kids to be able to get a good education. I also remember one day Tahera and another sister were having a discussion and the sister was recommending a particular TV station programme and she (Tahera) replied that her children do not watch TV because they don't have one in their home because of the ills of TV. The other sister who happens to be an Arab was shocked to even hear that there is anyone who does not have a TV set. These are some of what I can remember about Tahera. She also wears full hijab with hand gloves which is not common here. Most people wear the niqab but don't cover their hands. So when I heard that she died on the spot when the accident happened, I was really humbled and at the same time mortified about the worthlessness of the life of this world. Within a few seconds, someone's situation may change such that they would be so helpless about issues they would have thought inappropriate under normal circumstances. I mean In saudi Arabia men and women don't mix or talk. So men deal with men and women deal with women. I was just sitting here wondering how Tahera's husband must have felt when some accident emergency officials were taking his wife's lifeless body away from the accident spot and he just could not do a thing about it. Men who would not even have been able to exchange salaams with her few minutes before the accident. I am not a man but I think that must be a really hard pill to swallow for any muslim man. He and the kids were taken in a car to the nearest hospital while his wife was taken in another by men he did not know to a destination he does not know in makkah and he was unable to stop them. I really can't imagine how that must have felt. He later told friends who went to meet him at the hospital that his wife did not want to come back home after the umrah in makkah. She said she wanted to remain there. But they had to come back so that he could resume work on saturday. Even while at makkah, she did not want to return to the hotel they were staying. She insisted on sitting at the haram all night. Maa sha Allah that was somehow comforting for all of us. she spent her last hours in worship and remembrance of Allah. She had it in her will to be buried in makkah among the faithfuls. She was buried there yesterday after a janazah prayer at the haram after salaatul isha' maa sha Allah. May Allah forgive Tahera and all dead muslims.

I just lost a friend

I was down with a really bad sore throat this afternoon. I took some lemon and honey tea to alleviate it but it did not get better. I later started shivering and then my head started hurting. I was a little scared. I decided to go to my favourite home remedy site, earth clinic and found out that the most popular remedy for sore throat is cayene pepper. I tried gargling a little  but it was just too hot for me to keep it in my mouth for long. I decided to take a nap hoping to get better by maghrib. I was cold so I covered myself all up with a woolen blanket and told my eldest child to make sure no one disturbs me. As I was trying to sleep, I started thinking about death. I thought what if I sleep and do not wake up? My mind was occupied with all sorts of thought; how would the kids cope without me? how would the hb take care of them without me? how would he break the news to my family? Most importantly, I thought of what will become of me if I die. Am I serving my creator as I should? what is the assurance that my past sins have been forgiven? All these and other such thought were going on in my head. I finally drifted to sleep and was feeling a bit better when I woke up. I managed to pray salaatul magrib and waited for isha which I had to pray sitting. I made a cup of hot lemon  tea with honey and cayenne pepper and got back into bed trying to sleep again.
  Then the phone rang, it was my friend F, she asked why I sounded funny and I told her in my barely audible voice that I was sick. She said ok then, she would let me rest and we talk tommorrow. 15 minutes later, she called back, saying something happened and she felt she needed to tell me, now!. I knew it had to be important for her to call back after saying goodnight.  She said I should try to be firm about what she was about to tell me. Her hb just informed her that one of our pakistani friends died in an accident this evening on their way home from Makkah. The sister attends the same tahfeez school I go and I still saw her on tuesday. I was too shocked to talk. I mean I was just thinking of death few hours ago and now I was told my friend is dead. She wanted me to confirm from a friend who is a doctor in the hospital her hb and children were taken to. I made the call with shaky hands and the sister confirmed that it is indeed true. Her body had been taken to makkah while the husband and three kids were taken to khlais hospital for treatment. I really hope the kids are ok insha Allah. F and I decided to wait till tomorrow before calling the tafeez teacher as it is a liitle late now for such news. Inna lillah wa inna ilaihi raajohoon. May Allah forgive Tahera and accept her as one of the faithfuls and grant her Jannah. May Allah comfort her husband and children in this trying time, aamin. May Allah help us all to become better muslims and not test us with what is more than we can bear, aamin.