The Muslim Home - 40 Recommendations (pt. 6)
By: Sheikh Muhammad Salih al-Munajjid cont…
10) Home audio library
Having a cassette player in every home may be used for good
or for evil. How can we use it in a manner that is pleasing to Allaah?
One of the ways in which we can achieve this is to have a
home audio library containing good Islaamic tapes by scholars, Fuqaha’,
lecturers, Khateebs and preachers.
Listening to tapes of Qur’aan recitation by some Imaams, for
example those recorded during Taraaweeh prayers, will have a great impact on
family members, whether by impressing upon them the meanings of the Revelation,
or by helping them to memorize Qur’aan because of repeated listening. It will
also protect them by letting them hear Qur’aanic recitation rather than the
music and singing of the Shaytaan, because it is not right for the words of Ar-Rahmaan
(Allaah) to be mixed with the music of the Shaytaan in the heart of the
believer.
Tapes of Fatwas may have a great effect on family members
and help them to understand various rulings, which will have an impact on their
daily lives. We suggest listening to tapes of Fatwas given by scholars such as
Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn Baaz, Shaykh Muhammad Naasir ad-Deen al-Albaani, Shaykh
Muhammad al-‘Uthaymeen, Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan, and other trustworthy
scholars.
Muslims must also pay attention to the sources from which
they take Fatwas, because this is the matter of religion, so look to where you
take your religion from. You should take it from someone who is known to be
righteous and pious, who bases his Fatwas on sound narrations, who is not fanatical
in his adherence to a Math-hab, who follows sound evidence and adheres to a
middle path without being either extreme or too lenient. Ask an expert. “…Allaah, Most Gracious: ask, then about
Him of any acquainted [with such things]).” [Q5: vs59].
Listening to lectures by those who are striving to raise the
awareness of the Ummah, establish proof and denounce evil, is very important
for establishing individual personalities in the Muslim home.
There are many tapes and lectures, and the Muslim needs to
know the features of the sound methodology so as to distinguish sound lecturers
from others and look for their tapes, which they can listen to with confidence.
Among these features are:
• The lecturer should be a believer in the ‘Aqeedah of the
Saved Group, Ahl al-Sunnah wa alJamaa’ah, adhering to the Sunnah and firmly
rejecting Bid’ah. The speaker should be moderate, neither extremist nor
lenient.
• He should base his talks on sound narrations, and beware
of weak and fabricated narrations.
• He should have insight into people’s situations and the
realities of the Ummah, and should offer the appropriate remedy for any
problem, giving the people what they need.
• He should speak the truth as much as he can, and not utter
falsehood or please the people by angering Allaah.
• We often find that tapes for children have a great
influence on them, whether by helping them to memorize Qur’aan by listening to
a young reader, or Du’aa’s to be recited at various times of day and night, or
Islaamic manners, or Nasheeds (religious “songs” with no instrumental accompaniment)
with a useful message, and so on.
• Putting tapes in drawers in an organized fashion will make
it easier to find them, and will also protect them from getting damaged or from
being played with by young children. We should distribute good tapes by giving
or lending them to others after listening to them. Having a recorder in the
kitchen will be very useful for the lady of the house, and having a recorder in
the bedroom will help a person make good use of time until the last moments of
the day.
11) Inviting good and righteous people and
seekers of knowledge to visit the home.
Allaah The Exalted Says (what means): “My Lord! Forgive me, and my parents, and him who enters my home as a
believer, and all the believing men and women…” [Q71: vs28].
If people of faith enter your home, it will increase in
light (Noor), and will bring many benefits because of your conversations and
discussion with them. The bearer of musk will either give you some, or you will
buy from him, or you will find that he has a pleasant scent. When children, brothers
and parents sit with such visitors, and women listen from behind a curtain or
screen to what is said: this offers an educational experience to all. If you
bring good people into your home, by doing so you keep bad people from coming
in a wreaking havoc.
to be continued...
0 Comments