Issues and Questions
Number of Prophets, Qada Prayer, Women in Cemetery
By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Q 1. I have been
wondering about this question for long time and
it has to do with how many prophets there were in
all. I have heard the number 124,000. Where does
that number come from and also are there any prophets
we believe in and who are NOT mentioned in the Qur’an?
Where can I get a complete list of the names of
all prophets?
A 1. Allah has mentioned in the
Qur’an that He sent messengers and guides
among all people. “Indeed, we sent in every
community a messenger… “ (al-Nahl 16:36).
“There was not any community except a warner
lived among them.” (Fatir 35:24). However,
the Qur’an has not given us the names and
stories of all the messengers and guides who were
sent by Allah to various nations and groups. We
have only 25 prophets and messengers who are mentioned
in the Qur’an by name. About other prophets
and messengers Allah said, “We have told you
the story of some Messengers and of others We have
not …” (al-Nisa’ 4;164)
We Muslims believe in Allah’s Prophets and
Messengers who came before Prophet Muhammad - peace
be upon all of them. Prophet Muhammad was the Last
Prophet and Messenger of Allah. After his coming
there will be no new Prophet or Messenger. (We accept
that Jesus - peace be upon him - will come again,
but he will not be a new Prophet.) We mention by
names only those Prophets and Messengers whose names
are given to us in the Qur’an and authentic
Sunnah. But those whose names are not mentioned
in the Qur’an and Sunnah we do not say definitely
that they were Allah’s Prophets or Messengers.
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal in his Musnad has mentioned
a Hadith (no. 21257) that Allah sent 124, 000 Prophets
(Anbiya’) and from among them 315 were the
Messengers (rusul). It seems that on the basis of
this Hadith, we have this number circulated in Islamic
literature. However, there is no list of names of
all the Prophets and Messengers available. Allah
knows best who they were and when or where they
lived. We only know this much that wherever there
exist any concept of tawhid, truth, justice, righteousness
and virtue, it must have come from Allah through
His noble Prophets and Messengers. Also wherever
there is any concept of shirk, evil, injustice and
corruption, it must be from Shaitan and his suggestions
in human mind.
Q 2. If unable to
pray on time, is it OK to do Qada prayers? Should
Qada prayer be done as soon as possible after missing
the prayers or can one wait till the time for the
next prayers? Also if one is unable to wake up in
time for Fajr prayer, can one pray Fajr after its
time and till what time?
A 2. Prayer (Salat)
should be done on time. If for some unavoidable
reasons one was unable to pray on time then Qada
can be done, but it should be done as soon as possible.
One does not have to wait for the time of another
prayer. However, one should avoid the prohibited
times of prayers. These are: when the sun is rising,
when it is at its highest point in the middle of
the day and when it is setting. The Prophet - peace
be upon him - forbade us from making Salat at these
times, so that we do not resemble those who worship
the sun.
Similarly, if one was unable to wake up for Fajr
prayer on time, one should do it as soon as one
wakes up. If it is the time of sunrise (shuruq)
then one should wait a few minutes until the sun
has risen and then one should make the Qada of Fajr
prayer. One must make the Qada of missed prayers.
The prayers remain due and one is responsible to
perform them until they are performed.
Q 3. Who can be and
who cannot be called a Kafir? For example, a person
who does not pray, can he be called a Kafir, or
is he still within the realm of Islam
A 3. According to
the belief of Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah,
the believer (mu’min) is a person who accepts
all that has come in the Qur’an and the authentic
Sunnah, and the non-believer (kafir) is a person
who denies anything that has come in the Qur’an
and the authentic Sunnah. Faith requires action,
but a person who commits sins and neglects the obligatory
duties of Islam will not be called a kafir until
he/she denies the validity of Allah’s rules.
Thus those Muslims who do not pray or fast or give
Zakat etc. are sinners. They must repent and correct
themselves. But they will not be called kafir unless
and until they declare that they do not believe
in any of these things and do not consider them
necessary and obligatory duties of Islam.
Q 4. Are women allowed
to attend the funeral and go to the cemetery? We
have some confusion on this issue. Some people consider
it haram for women to go to the cemetery for the
funeral. Please advice in the light of the Qur’an
and Sunnah.
A 4. As far as I
know there is no verse in the Qur’an and no
authentic Hadith that make it Haram for women to
attend the funerals. Most of the jurists consider
it Makruh on the basis of a Hadith of Umm ‘Atiyah
- may Allah be pleased with her. This Hadith is
mentioned in a number of books of Hadith. Umm Atiyah
and says, “We (meaning women) were told not
to go with the funerals, but it was not prohibited
for us.” (See al-Bukhari, Hadith no. 1199;
also Muslim, Hadith no. 1555)
It is also reported that once a woman followed the
funeral during the time of the Prophet - peace be
upon him. Syedna ‘Umar - may Allah be pleased
with him - became angry and told her to go home,
but the Prophet - peace be upon him - told him to
leave her alone. (See Al-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah
as reported in Fath al-Bari, vol. 3, p. 145.)
Following the above Ahadith, it is safe to say that
the Shari’ah discourages women from going
to the cemetery for the funeral. If some women very
strongly feel that they must go to receive emotional
comfort and healing through participation in the
funeral and prayers, then they are allowed to do
so. They must, however, observe proper Islamic dress,
i.e. Hijab and full, long clothes. They must not
mix up with men in the crowd and they must avoid
crying aloud and bewailing.
- DrSiddiqi@aol.com
