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according to the school of ahl al-bayt, the verse refers to the area which should be washed. when one says wash your hands up to the wrists before eating, certainly he does not mean to start washing from the top of fingers and end up with wrists. rather he means to clean up all the area of palm, however it could be. the word "yad" in arabic usually means palm as it is used in the qur'an, chapter 5, v. 28. however, when the word "yad" is used to mean other than palm, it should accompany a clear evidence for the new meaning. this applies to the verses of ablution. the preposition "to" is used to indicate the limit in which one should wash his hands. for example, if one says "wash the room to the door" he certainly means to wash the area without any difference between starting from door to the wall or vice versa. hadith of ahl al-bayt school of thought indicates that one should start with elbow and end up with fingers and it is the normal way of washing arms. see wassa'il by amili, v. 1, page 1271, beirut 1391. in addition, the arabic grammar requires that the conjunction particulars such as "wa," i.e., "and" should connect a word to the nearest word. no doubt, in the ablution verse, the latter immediately in the qur'an. fakhr al-razi says; "ibn kathir, hamza, abu amr, and asim (as abu bakr reports) all have recited the word "feet" in genitive case. but, nafi ibn amir, and asim (as hafs reports) have recited it in accusative case. thus, we say that the in genitive case requires that the word "feet" should be related to the word "head." therefore, as it is obligatory to wipe the head, it would be the case for feet." see al-tafsir by razi, v. 11, page 161, cairo. shaikh al-tusi explains that on the basis of both recitations, the verse would means to wipe instead of wash. see al-tibyan by al-tusi, v. 3, page 452, najaf 1376.
q. 49 when adhan was announced?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali "adhan" in islam is an announcement and call for prayer by reciting certain sentences which indicate the crucial points of the islamic creed and shariah law. therefore, many hadiths emphasize on the importance of adhan, the prophet (p) said: "reward of a mu'idhin (one who announces the prayer's time) is equal to the reward of a martyr who is far as away (from his family) in his blood for the sake of allah." in another hadith, the prophet said: "the mu'idhin will be forgiven as far as his voice and his sight reaches; everything will agree with him. for any prayer by which people pray because of the adhan, he will have a reward. obviously, this emphasis is based on the fact that the main goal of mu'idhin is the same. that is to carry the message of islam. there are two reports about the history of adhan: (first) that it was introduced in madina in the first year of hijra. the reason, according to this report, was that abdul alah ibn zaid ibn abd rabbah had a dream of a man holding a church bell. abdul allah wanted to buy the bell in order to announce prayer's time. then the man taught him in the dream how to perform adhan. when abdul allah woke up, he went to the prophet and the prophet agreed with what was ordered by the unknown man. see sharh al-mughni by ibn quddamma, d. 682, v. 1, p. 389, cairo 1347. this report, however, indicates that the prophet used to pray before that dream without adhan. (second) report is that adhan and iqamah, cannot be based on a dream, rather that the messenger of allah had received it by revelation during the mi'raj (the ascension) from jerusalem after the prophet's journey from mecca which took place in mecca, 27th of rajab, after the third year of his prophethood, i.e., 613 c.e. this is the common report of ahl al-bayt. see wasil al-shi'a by al-hurr al-amili, v. 4, page 679. al shaikh al-tusi said: "adhan is based on revelation to the prophet not on a dream." see al-mabsut, v. 1, page 95. for details also see tafsir al-ayyashi, v. 1, page 157.
q. 50 what is tathweeb?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali all four islamic schools of thought agree that "tathweeb" is recommended in adhan. that is to add to adhan the following sentences: "prayer is better than sleep." ibn quddama says: "then say in the morning prayer two times "prayer is better than sleep." this is recommended in the morning prayer only after saying "come to success." this is called tathweeb. it is agreed upon by ibn umar, malik, thawri, ishaq and shafi. ishaq said that this has been added by people. al-tarmidhi said "this is the tathweeb that knowledgeable people dislike." see sarh al-mughni by ibn quddama, cairo 1347. al shawkani d. 1255 says: "itrat ahl al-bayt and al-shaffi in one of his view say that tathweeb is an innovation in islam. it is reported that when imam' ali heard it, he said: "do not add to adhan what does not belong to it." see nayl ul awtar, v.2, page 18, beirut 1973.
q. 51 what is the "best deed"?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali al shawkani says: "in al-ahkam that it is the fact that the sentence "haya ala khayr il amal", i.e., come to the best deed, is used to be pronounced during the life of the prophet. it was occasionally used until the time of umar. al-bahaqqi in his sunan reports by another chain that abdallah ibn umar occasionally used to say in his prayer the following sentence "come to the best deed." see nayl ul awair, beirut 1973, v.2, p. 19. ibn majah says in his work that the prophet said: "be strong and know that prayer is the best of your deeds and no one can keep up ablution but a believer." see al-sunan by ibn majah, v. 1, page 1001, cairo 1372. zaid ibn ali reports that his father used to say in his adhan "come to the best deed." see musnad zaid, page 93, beirut.
q. 52 is the third testimony as obligatory?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali to say "i bear witness that ali is the commander of faithfuls," is like other invocations during adhan such as blessing the prophet whenever his name is mentioned. shiites adhere to this in the adhan on the basis of hadith of imam al-sadiq that whoever says there is no god but god and muhammad is the messenger of god, he should also say: "ali is the commander of the faithfuls." this hadith covers every situation including adhan. however, the shi'te jurists agree that this is not part of adhan rather it is a recommended one. thus one can omit it from adhan." al sayyid in al-urwah said: "the testimony of leadership for imam ali as the commander of the faithfuls is not part of adhan." al sayyid al-hakim in mustamsak says: "nowadays this testimony is considered a sign of faith and a motto of shi'ism. thus, it is acceptable even it might be an obligatory but not as part of adhan. in short, shi'ah look to this testimony as sunnis look to the sentence "prayer is better than sleep" which was added to adhan after the prophet's life. thus both shi's and sunni agree that both sentences are not obligatory, rather they are recommended for the followers of each school. furthermore, one can describe imam ali by whatever phrases he was described in hadith such as leader, commander of faithfuls, the authority. the prophet says on ali "he is the leader of every believer after me." see tarmadhi, v. 2, page 297. bulaq 1290, musnad ibn hanbal, v. 4, 37, cairo 1313, tayalisi, v. 3, page 111. hayder abad 1321. the prophet also described ali as commander of faithfuls and last successor. see hilyatul awliya, v. 1, page 63, cairo 1351. and as the authority: "i and this [ali] are the authority." see tarikh al-khatib, v. 2, page 88, cairo 1349. in conclusion, the report of both schools of shi'a and sunni indicates that ali was the commander of faithfuls, the authority and the leader. therefore, one can consider the third testimony a recommended one according to teachings of ahl al-bayt as it is the case of sentence "prayer is better than sleep" which is added to adhan and considered recommended according to the teachings of four sunni schools.
q. 53. what are the conditions of the friday prayer?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali it is an obligatory prayer, when all its condition meets. the holy qur'an says: "o those who believe when there is a call to prayer at friday, move toward remembrance of god leave your business. that is better for you if you realize." ch. jum'a, v.9. r muslim jurists have different opinions about the terms and conditions on which friday prayer becomes obligatory. hanafids necessary to perform this prayer. see al-figha ala al-madhahip, v.1, page 379. ibn rushd says: "some jurists believe that this prayer is an obligatory only on some people not on all. malik believes, according to an old report that it is recommended-not obligatory. the reason for this difference lies behind the saying of the prophet: "this day [friday] is the day which has been made an "id." abu hanifa considers both residency and ruler, two conditions on which this prayer becomes "an obligatory." see bidayat al-mujtahid, v. 1, page 159, 162, cairo 1389. in addition to both conditions that hanafi holds, shi's add that the leader of the prayer should be a just person. therefore, anyone cannot lead prayer. however, at the absence of the muslim ruler who rules all muslims, jum'a prayer is not obligatory according to hanafi's and majority of shi'a, though some shi'a jurists hold that it is an obligatory because there is no restriction on independent opinion in shi's school. performance of the prayer jum'a prayer is performed similarly to the morning prayer, however, it is recommended to recite in the first unit chapter 62 of the holy qur'an, and in the second unit chapter 63. it is an imam's duty to deliver two sermons before the prayer in which, he must offer a praise to almighty god, bless the prophet, and his house, and preach according to the need of the islamic community in particular the need of the group which follows him. the most important conditions of the friday prayer are: 1. consent of the just ruler. 2. the congregation prayer. 3. the number of the group should not be less than five. 4. the distance between two jum'a prayer should not be less than five kms. 5. the time starts exactly at noon until the shade of everything becomes as itself. when one of these conditions is not met, noon prayer should be performed instead.
q. 54 an incomplete blessing ?
by sayyid muhammad husayn jalali one of the obligatory rites in the daily prayers is to bless the prophet and his house at the final sit in the prayer. to this fact al-shaf'i refers in his poem: "o the people of the house of the messenger to admire you is an obligatory duty from god in the revealed qur'an. it is sufficient of your great pride that whoever does not bless you in his prayer, his prayer will not be accepted." see al-diwan by imam al-shafi'i, page 723, beirut 1392. ibn hajar in al-sawa'iq reports that the prophet said: "do not bless me with an incomplete blessing." then, the companions said: "what is the incomplete blessing ?" the prophet said: "it is to say 'god bless muhammad then you stop. rather, you should say: o god bless muhammad and his house '" see al-sawa'iq by ibn hajar, page 146, egypt 1375. finally, we ask almighty that he help us all to perform this islamic duty which is the pillar of religion and the symbol of muslim unity. glossary (a.) = greeting to him or her. ashura = 10th of muharram (1st month of islamic calendar.) fatiha = the opening chapter of the holy qur'an. also known as sura al hamd. hijr = the migration of prophet from mecca to madina. islam dates its calendar from this event. jam'at = congregational prayer. kafir = infidel. (p.) = peace be upon him and his family. qibla = direction of the muslim prayer towards holy ka'aba, mecca, arabia. wadu = ablution required for ritual prayer.
