From the Signs of the Last Day: Long Friday Khutbahs (Sermons) with Short Prayers

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful…

Shaykh Hammood ibn ‘Abdillaah at-Tuwayjiree (d.1413) – may Allaah have Mercy on him – said:

Long Khutbahs (Sermons) with Short Prayers: On this topic, there is the hadeeth of Ibn Mas’ood – may Allaah be pleased with him – who said:

You people are living in a time wherein prayers are made long, khutbahs (sermons) are short, there are many scholars, but few orators. A time will come upon the people when the prayer will be short, the khutbah will be long, a time of many orators but few scholars…

It was collected by at-Tabaraanee, and al-Haythamee said: Its narrators are those of the Saheeh (hadeeth collections of al-Bukhaaree and/or Muslim).

It was also collected by Imaam Maalik in his Muwatta’, with a similar wording:

…And the people shall encounter a time when the scholars of fiqh are few, but the reciters are many, the letters of the Qur’aan will be memorized, but the rulings will be lost, many shall be asked questions (about Islaam), few will be able to benefit anyone, they shall prolong khutbahs (sermons), and shorten the prayers. Their whims will become evident even before their actions.

…He (Ibn Mas’ood) – may Allaah be pleased with him – also narrated from the Prophet (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) that he said:

إن قصر الخطبة وطول الصلاة مئنة من فقه الرجل، فأطيلوا الصلاة، واقصروا الخطبة، فإن من البيان سحرًا، وإنه سيأتي بعدكم قوم يطيلون الخطب ويقصرون الصلاة

“Verily, a short khutbah and a long prayer is a sign of a man’s fiqh (religious understanding), so lengthen the prayer and shorten the khutbah, as surely some types of speech are magical. People will come after you who prolong the khutbahs and shorten the prayers.”

It was collected by al-Bazzaar, and part of it was Continue reading

From the Joys of Paradise: Sexual Intercourse

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Merciful, the Ever Merciful…

Allaah, the Most Generous, has promised His believing servants many different rewards in His expansive gardens of Paradise.  Aside from the greatest joy of all, looking at our Magnificent Creator, the residents of Paradise will indulge in various foods an drinks, to the large homes, rivers of pure water, honey, milk, and wine, to the beautiful virgin girls awaiting the personal enjoyment of the men.

Deviant Modernists Second Guess Allaah’s Divine Wisdom

Recently, philosophical attempts have been made to rationalize some of these rewards and second guess the Divine decree of Allaah, as deviants begin picking and choosing what is acceptable from Allaah’s perfect Wisdom and what is not. Some people – affected by a Christian understanding of the Hereafter – have actually begun denying some of the things promised by Allaah in His Book and explained in detail by the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), like continual acts of sexual intercourse with the hoor ‘een (pure virgin maidens) of Paradise.

Christian Influence

According to both modern and ancient Christian misconceptions revolving around the “dirty” and “disgraceful” nature of legal sexual intercourse, they believe that it is not the ambition of an upright person. Based on this, they exonerate their religious leaders above such a lowly concept in this life, and they reject the “repulsive” concept of sexual pleasures in Paradise.  In the Hereafter, they deny any type of sexual intercourse, claiming that Paradise is a “pure place” above such Continue reading