Bararthani

Tayammum can be done on earth, sand, lump of clay or stone but the recommended precaution is that if earth is available tayammum should not be performed on anything else. If earth is not available, then it can be performed on sand or a lump of clay, and in absence of these on a stone.

The following 4 things are obligatory in tayammum performed instead of Ghusl or Wudhu: • Intention (Niyyat) • Striking or keeping both the palms on the object on which tayammum is valid. As an obligatory precaution, this should be done by both the palms together. • Wiping or stroking the entire forehead with the palms of both the hands, and, as an obligatory precaution, its two ends commencing from the spot where the hair of one's head grow down to the eyebrows and above the nose. And it is recommended that the palms pass over the eyebrows as well. • To pass the left palm over the whole back of the right hand and thereafter, to pass the right palm over the whole back of the left hand.

Water is either ‘unmixed’ (MUTLAQ) or ‘mixed’ (MUDAF). ‘Mixed’ water is either water obtained from something, such as watermelon juice or rose water; or it is water that has been mixed with something else, such as water that has been mixed with some mud, etc., such that it can no longer be called ‘water’. If water is not of the above type, it is ‘unmixed’; and unmixed water is of five types: 1. Kurr water; (equivalent to approximately 384 litres) 2. Qalīl water; (less than Kurr water) 3. flowing water; (water that has a natural source, flows, and is continuous) 4. rainwater; 5. well water.

Question: I traveled to a European country and performed the morning prayer according to a prayers-time application, and after a few days I realized that the prayer time in that city was a few minutes different from the application, and I prayed a few minutes earlier. What is my duty? Answer: If you realize that you prayed the whole prayer before the time, you need to pray again. But if you have started the prayer with confidence that the prayer time has arrived, then you’ve realized that part of the prayer was before the real call to prayer, then the prayer is valid.

Question: If according to the announced prayer times, the sunrise has arrived but I do not see the sunrise at this time and minutes later, should I pray the morning prayer at this time with the intention of Qadha or not? Answer: If you have doubts about the arrival of sunrise, you can suppose it hasn’t arrived yet and offer the prayer with the intention of offering it in time, but if you know the time of sunrise, considering that usually the announced sunrise time is accurate, the prayer is Qadha, even though due to obstacles you can not see the sunrise in the city. Another point about the intention of prayer is that it is not necessarily to perform the prayer with the intention of offering it in time or Qadha, rather it is sufficient to offer it with the intention of whatever is your duty.

Question: Is it obligatory to pray at the beginning of the prayer time? Answer: It is recommended to pray at the beginning of the prayer time and it is not worthy to delay the prayer from the beginning of the prayer time without religious and customary preferences.

Question: Is it correct to rely on rooster crowing to determine the time of morning prayer? Answer: No, it is not a correct criterion.

Question: In cases where the prayer should be performed in both directions due to not knowing the direction of the Qibla, if we perform the prayer only in one direction, should we perform the qadha of the prayer later? Answer: If he is certain or almost certain or he is suspicious that the Qibla is in one of the two directions, he should pray to both directions. In the example above, if he intentionally prays only to one side, he has not fulfilled his duty and must perform Qadha for that prayer.

Question: If a person is praying the Isha prayer and while he still has plenty of time to pray the Isha prayer, in the second rakat something urgent happens to him, can he change his intention (Niyyah) to the morning qadha prayer and complete his prayer in two rakats? Answer: It is possible to change the intention of prayer from performing in-time (Ada’), to Qadha with two conditions: 1: The prayer time should not be tight 2: The prayer stage for changing the intention has not passed. (For example, you cannot change the intention to a two-Rakat prayer when you’ve bowed for the ruku’ of the third Rakat)

Question: How the time for noon prayer is determined by an indicator? Answer: When the indicator shadow reaches its minimum size (in some cities, the indicator shadow disappears completely) and then, the indicator shadow starts increasing, it is known that the noontime according to Shariah has arrived.

Question: 1) If someone intentionally or unintentionally does not pray the noon and evening prayers until sunset, is it necessary for him to pray after sunset without the intention of qadha or is it not necessary to pray until the maghrib call to prayer, but should he pray qadha whenever he wants? 2) If someone unintentionally does not perform the Maghrib and Isha prayers until midnight, will his Maghrib and Isha prayers be performed in time until the morning prayer? Answer: 1. For a person who knows the time of sunset, it is an obligatory precaution not to delay the noon and evening prayers until the sun goes down and the sun sets, and if there is a delay, he should pray it without the intention of in time (Ada') or qadha, in the time interval between sunset and maghrib; But whoever doubts the sunset and believes that the sun is hidden behind mountains, buildings, or trees, there is still time for him as long as the redness in the sky is visible in the east and has not disappeared. 2. The time for Maghrib and Isha prayers for a person in a normal situation (not in an emergency) continues until midnight but for a person in an emergency, i.e. someone who has not prayed before midnight due to forgetfulness or due to staying asleep or menstruation and the like, the time for Maghrib and Isha prayers continue until Fajr (morning prayer time); But in any case, in case of paying attention and not being negligent, the order between the two is necessary, that is, the Maghrib prayer must be performed first, then the Isha prayer, and if the Isha prayer is intentionally performed before the Maghrib prayer, it is invalid; unless there is not more than the amount of time left to perform the Isha prayer; In this case, it is necessary to pray the Isha prayer before the Maghrib prayer.

Question: Which astronomical site is approved by Ayatollah Sistani? Answer: The address of the Astronomy website related to Ayatollah Sistani's office: https://english.nojumi.org

Question: If a person was certain of the validity of the prayer times announced by an Institute for performing his prayers and the start and breaking of the fast and acted according to that but now is uncertain of the validity of that, what is the duty of his past prayers and fasts? Answer: If you are no longer certain, as long as you do not find certainty to the contrary, your previous acts of worship are valid. But from now on you have to be cautious.

Question: If wiping of the feet in ablution is performed incompletely (for example, the hand suddenly separates from the foot), is it enough to complete that incomplete wiping or do I have to wipe the feet from the beginning? Answer: Yes, it is sufficient to complete the same wiping.

Question: If performing some kinds of make-up causes an obstacle in the organs of ablution, and consequently requires performing Jabirah ablution in a short period of 2 or 3 days, is it permissible to perform that make-up? Answer: No, it is not allowed.

Question: If a person has a wound under his beard and the blood does not stop, how can he perform ablution? The wound is under the beard and he does not want to shave the beard. Putting plaster on the beard is useless because, with the plaster on the beard, the water still reaches the wound under the beard and spreads to other places. Answer: If the wound can be purified, but the only obstacle is that the blood does not stop, in this case, it is necessary to cleanse the face under Kurr water (tap water), meaning you put your face under tap water from top to bottom with the intention of ablution while pressing the injured area (with one finger), when you reached the injured area remove your finger for a moment so that the water could reach it, but if the wound cannot be purified this way and it is not possible to perform Jabirah ablution, then you have to perform Tayammum.

Question: When performing ablution, some water usually drips on the feet. Is it a valid ablution if we wipe our feet in this state? Answer: The place of wiping must be dry, and if it is so wet that the wetness of your hands does not affect it, the wiping is invalid, but if it has a little moisture, so that the water of the hand overcomes it during wiping, and that moisture is considered lost in the wiping water, there is no problem.

Question: Is mascara on the eyelashes an obstacle for ablution? Answer: If there is an obstacle on the eyelashes, it must be removed for ablution and ghusl, and it is your own responsibility to determine whether the mascara prevents water from reaching it or not.

Question: The residents of two villages have divided the water from a river between themselves and take turns taking the water for themselves. Do the villagers in their turn own the water or not? If a person, outside of his turn, brings water from the river for his own use in his house and performs ablution, will his ablution be invalid if the people of the other village do not consent? Answer: There is no problem in performing ablution from streams that based on the conventional habitude of the wise, are allowed to be used without the permission of the owner (even if the owner is a minor, and even if the person does not know that the owner consents). Rather, it is still permissible to take possession of them, even if the owner forbids performing ablution, or even if the person knows that the owner does not consent, or if the owner is minor or insane.

Question: What is the ruling of a person who, due to justifiable ignorance of the ruling, does not start washing his forehead or elbows from the top of that organ during ablution and later in continuation of ablution, washes that upper part of the organ? For example, he washes from the mid of the forearm to the tips of the fingers with the intention of ablution, then he washes the dry part of the forearm from the elbow to the mid of the forearm. Answer: If when he starts to wash from the elbow, he washes to the fingers (even if before that, he only washed from the mid of the forearm to the fingers), then his ablution is valid, but if he only performs ablution from the elbow to the mid of the forearm (the part that was left unwashed previously), then such ablution is invalid, and the prayer that was performed with it is also void, and in this matter, there is no difference between justifiable and unjustifiable ignorance.

Question: If someone has a wound on the sole of his foot and because of the bandage, it is also on his foot, or for example, he cannot take off his socks because of the wound, what is his duty? Answer: You should open the bandage to the amount that applies to wiping the feet, and perform ablution normally. Yes, if opening the bandage placed on the injured part is harmful or accompanied by intolerable difficulty (Haraj), he should perform Jabirah ablution here. In the case of Haraj, Tayammum also must be done as a precaution.

Question: I am a simple worker in a factory. One day, a government official came and said that this water well that you are using is illegal and you should give some money to the government for this well, and without knowing it, I performed ablution and ghusl with the water of this well for many years. What is my duty? Are the ghusls I performed and the prayers I prayed correct? Or am I still in the state of Janabah? Answer: Ghusls as well as the prayers you have recited are correct, and there is no need to perform ghusl again, but for subsequent ghusls, use permissible (non-usurped) water.

Question: It is mentioned in the Risalah that ablution is valid when the place or space of performing ablution or container of ablution water or the place where the ablution water falls is permissible; What is meant by space of ablution and what is the difference between it and place? Answer: Imagine you are standing on the sidewalk of an unknown person's house, and in the courtyard of that house, you perform ablution and your ablution water falls there. In this premise, your standing place for ablution (the sidewalk) is permissible. But the ablution space and the place where ablution water is poured is usurped. Similarly, on the contrary here, a usurped place, but a permissible space, can be imagined.

Question: If a person pauses while performing ablution without anything having invalidated the first ablution, what is the ruling on the second ablution? If there is a need to invalidate the previous ablution in some way, can the person intentionally dip their hand in non-ablution water before wiping? Answer: The new ablution is void. Before starting a new ablution, you either have to perform an invalidator of ablution or wait that much that his ablution be considered interrupted.

Question: We asked the office of our Marja’ that in cleaning the floors of hospitals, hotels, laboratories, apartments and the like, impurity such as blood and the like is wiped with a wet broom/mop and it can be seen a lot. It was replied that you have to deem it to be pure. Is this reply based on the principle of compliance with intolerable and difficult situations or is it something else? Answer: To avoid obsessions, and hardships in people's lives, Islam considers the principle of purity to be present in everything and has ordered this general rule: only if you are sure that something is impure, you are obliged to avoid it. Otherwise, you have no duty; Therefore, all the things that we do not know about their impurity, or we doubt their impurity, or even we suspect that they are impure, are all pure and we have no duty to avoid them.