Aqeedah
Explain the Oneness of the Names and Attributes of Allah.
Ex) What is to be said if someone thinks their deceased grandfather is always "watching over them"?
Allah's Names and Attributes are eternal and belong to Him alone - only He sees everything, hears everything, knows everything, is the Most Powerful, is the Most Merciful, the only Eternal One, Gives Life and Death, etc.
Giving anyone Allah's attributes is SHIRK with His Asma wa Siffat (Names and Characteristics/attributes).
What is tayammum?
Dry ablution in the lack of presence of water.
Recite the oft-repeated verses, without which there is no salah.
Surah Fatiha
Authentic (saheeh) and weak (daeef)
List the four scholars of the four famous schools of thought, in order of who came first.
Imam Abu Hanifa
Imam Malik
Imam Shafi'i
Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal
Where is Allah? How do we know?
Allah is above His Throne. We know because Allah told us: see Quran 7:54, 10:3, 13:2, 20:5, 25:59, 32:4, and 57:4.
A man entered upon Imam Malik and asked him "How did Allah make istiwa on the throne?" Imam Malik replied "Istiwa is not unknown, the modality of it is inconceivable in the mind, but belief in it is obligatory, and inquiring about it is a heretical innovation. You are an innovator." He then had him be taken out.
Give the Arabic words for:
-ritual impurity
-ablution
-part of body that must be covered
-act of letting garment come below ankles (note- it is haram for men to do this)
-Janabah
-wudu
-awrah
-isbal
Give a hadith (paraphrased is ok) about the virtue of memorizing or reciting Quran.
Any of the hadith about the merits of the memorization or recitation of Quran is fine.
Explain the importance of sunnah. Can you follow "just Qur'an?"
You need the sunnah to follow the Qur'an because Allah commands to obey the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) explains the Qur'an. Anyone who rejects the authority of the sunnah has committed kufr.
Who wrote the famous collection of Forty Hadiths - Al-Arba'oon?
Imam al-Nawawi (rahimahu Allah)
List and explain the three categories used to explain Tawheed.
1) Tawheed al-Rububiyyah - Oneness of Lordship
Ascribing all Acts of Allah to Him Alone - such as creating all that exists, giving life, causing death, providing sustenance
2) Tawheed al-Uluhiyyah - Oneness of Worship
Dedicating all acts of worship to Allah Alone - such as salah, fasting, zakat, asking help, making dua, seeking refuge, fear, hope, reliance, sacrificing, vows, Hajj, and all Islamic forms of Ibaadah.
3) Tawheed al-Asma wa al-Siffat - Oneness of Allah's Names and Attributes
"Part of faith in Allah is to have faith in the way He described Himself in His honorable Book and in the way described by His Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, without distortion and negation, and without asking "how" or likening Him to something else." - Ibn Taymiyyah, Al-Aqeedah Al-Wasitiyyah
Define al-Wala wa al-Bara.
Allegiance and Dissociation
-allying with Allah and rejecting taghut, and enemies of Allah (disassociating from shirk and the people of shirk)
Give two rewayaat of the Quran often recited today.
Hafs an Asim
Warsh an Nafi
What are the three types of sunnah?
Qawliyyah - sayings of the Prophet (pbuh)
Fi'liyyah - actions, habits of the Prophet (pbuh)
Taqririyyah - practices done before the Prophet (pbuh) that he did not oppose; tacit approvals
Who are the Salaf and why follow them?
Allah is the only One to be obeyed, so when He tells us obey the Prophet (pbuh), we obey him.
When the Prophet (pbuh) says to follow His companions (radiya Allahu anhum), we obey them.
When the Prophet (pbuh) said the best of the people are from his generation, then the second, and then the third, we obey him. So the Salaf are the pious predecessors whose aqeedah was firm and correct, and they were taught by the Sahaba.
What are the six pillars of emaan? Explain each one. Can one have emaan with any of these missing?
"It is to have faith in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Resurrection after death, and faith in the good and evil of providence (Divine Decree -qadr)." - Ibn Taymiyyah
See Hadith of Gibril (a.s) in Sahih Muslim 10.
Missing any of these nullifies emaan.
Define:
1) bid'ah
2) takfir
3) irja'
1) innovation, in Islamic context - religious innovation
2) excommunication
3) literally means to postpone or to delay
------when referring to the Murjiah sect it refers to those who separate action from emaan, that faith is a mere confession (Jahmiyya), that faith is a mere utterance by the tongue (Karamiyya), that deny the harm of major sins, and that the actions of the limbs are not considered the acts of belief, and that faith is constant.
Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah - belief is a confession by the heart, utterance by the tongue, and actions with the limbs, and it increases and decreases. (See ibn Taymiyyah's Kitab al Iman - Book of Faith)
What is Bayt ul Izzah? What is its significance?
Ibn Abbas (r.a) and others have said, 'Allah sent the Qur'an down all at one time from the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfuz) to the House of Might (Baytl ul-Izzah), which is in the heaven of this world. Then it came down in parts to the Messenger of Allah based upon the incidents that occurred over a period of twenty-three years.'" - ibn Kathir in Tafseer ibn Kathir of Surah al-Qadr.
Name the Six Books of Hadith widely used. Which two are considered most authentic?
Sahih al-Bukhari - considered most authentic
Sahih Muslim - considered second-most authentic
Sunan al-Nasa'i
Sunan Abi Dawud
Jami'a at-Tirmidhi
Sunan ibn Majah
Who are the ulama al-soo?
EVIL SCHOLARS!
See Qur'an 62:5
"Evil and misguided scholars are like people sitting on the gates of Paradise and calling people to come on in. With their tongues they are saying come on in, come on in, but their actions are saying do not come in. The more they talk to people and tell people to come in, the more their actions say do not listen to us, because if we were indeed truthful we would have been the first to apply it..." - ibnul Qayyim in al-Fawa'id.
What is asl al-deen? Is excuse of ignorance valid or to be considered in relation to asl al-deen? What nullifies asl al-deen?
It is the foundation of the religion:
1) to affirm belief in Allah
2) to worship none but Allah
3) to leave the worship of others
4) to disassociate (have baraah) from those who commit shirk with Allah
"There is no excuse of ignorance for whoever reached the age of taklif (legally responsible age), whether he was from those whom a messenger came to or did not come to, or whether he saw others besides himself or he did not see anyone else." - ibn Jarir al-Tabari
-obligatory
-recommended
-disliked
-hudud
-fardh
-mandub or mustahab
-makruh
-literally means limits, boundaries - in Islamic context it refers to the penal code
Recite Surah al-Naba.
Max 2 mistakes = 500 pts
Max 3 mistakes = 100 pts
Surah al-Naba
What are the three hadiths in which the fundamental precepts of Islam are found, as considered by Imam Ahmad (rahimahu Allah)?
Hadith of 'Umar (r.a): "Deeds are only by intentions..." (Bukhari 1)
Hadith of A'isha (r.a): "Whoever innovates in this matter of ours..." (Bukhari 2697)
Hadith of An-Nu'man bin Basheer (r.a): "Halal is clear and haram is clear..." (Bukhari 52)
What is the approach with scholars that is correct?
Scholars are the heirs of the Prophets. Just like how there are false prophets and true ones, there are false scholars and true ones.