Question
Is there a Hadith source related to 40day rule regarding substance abuse? Is there any meaning related to the specified time of 40days regarding acceptance of Prayers?
Answer
The Consumption of Haram
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Allaah, Glorified and Exalted be He, cautions us saying,
{And do not eat up your property among yourselves for vanities.} (Al-Baqarah: 188)
The verse means that Muslims are commanded by Allaah to avoid taking the property of each other’s through illegal means. Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said, “What is meant in the verse are the false oaths through which a person takes the property of another with no right.”
The consumption of Haram is of two kinds:
1) Taking another’s property through oppression such as in cases of treachery and robbery.
2) Taking other’s property through unlawful forms of sports and games such as gambling and the lottery.
The Nabi of Allaah Ta’aala has condemned the consumption of the Haram in many ahadiths. Here, we will quote the following ahadiths to explain the gravity of this heinous sin:
1) The Nabi of Allaah (pbuh) said,
“Some people spend Allaah’s wealth (i.e., the Muslims’ wealth) in an unjust manner; such people will be put in the Hell on the Day of Judgment.” (Bukhari)
2) “… Then he mentioned (the case of) a man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky saying, 0 Lord! 0 Lord! While his food is unlawful, his drink unlawful, his clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, how can he be answered?” (Muslim)
3) Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) said to the Nabi (peace and blessing be upon him) ‘O Nabi of Allaah! Supplicate to Allaah for me to make my Du’a’ acceptable.” The Nabi (pbuh) replied,
“O Anas! To have an acceptable Du’a’, you should eat only the Halal (Lawful) since a person may be deprived of his Dua’ being answered for forty days because of eating a mouthful of Haram food.” (Al-Asfahani in Al-Targhib)
4) “Allaah has decreed your behavior as He has decreed your provision. Surely, Allaah grants the joys of this world to those whom He loves and those whom He loves not, but He does not grant Deen except to those whom He loves. Therefore, those who are blessed with religion receive Allaah’s Love. Assuredly, no one earns Haram money but what he spends, gives as charity or leaves behind will be his fuel in Hell-fire. Verily Allaah does not obliterate evil by means of evil, but He obliterates evil by means of good. .” (Ahmad)
5) “This worldly life is joyful and attractive. Therefore, whoever earns property through lawful means and spends it in a legal manner, Allaah will reward him with Jannat (Paradise). On the other hand, whoever earns property through unlawful means and spends it in illegal ends, Allaah will make him dwell in the abode of humiliation Jahannam (Hell). Some people also spend Allaah’s wealth in an unjust manner according to their whims. Such people will be put in the Hell on the Day of Judgment.” (Ibn Hibban)
6) “Whoever pays no attention to the sources of his money, Allaah will not concern about which gate he would enter Hell-Fire.”
7) Abu Hurairah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported a hadith that reads,
“To fill his mouth with dust is better for a person than putting Haram things in it.” (Ahmad)
8) Yusuf Ibn Asbat (may Allaah bestow mercy on him) said, “When a young man dedicates his life to worship, Satan asks his assistants about the source of his livelihood. If it is Haram, Satan says, ‘Do not bother about his worship and dedication for his consumption of the Haram is sufficient to make his work null and void.’” This means that worship will be of no avail when the worshiper insists on eating Haram.
9) This meaning is maintained by the aforementioned Hadith that,
“… A man who, having journeyed far, is disheveled and dusty and who spreads out his hands to the sky (saying), ‘Rabb! Rabb!’ while his food is unlawful, his drink unlawful, his clothing unlawful, and he is nourished unlawfully, how can he be answered?” (Muslim)
10) It is reported in the hadith that,
“Every day and night, an angel calls upon people from above Jerusalem
‘Whoever indulges in eating Haram, Allaah will never accept his optional or obligatory acts of worship.”
11) ‘Abdullah Ibn Al-Mubarak said, “Keeping myself clean from consuming a doubtful dirham is more charitable to me than giving 100,000 dirhams in charity.”
12) The Nabi (pbuh) said,
“When the pilgrim, who journeys to Hajj, by Haram money, says. ‘Here I am! At your service.” Our Lord, here I am! At your service. Allaah will say to him, “your calling is rejected and your Hajj is valueless.” (lbn Hajar)
13) He (pbuh) also said,
“Whoever purchases a garment by ten dirhams which contain a Haram dirham, Allaah never accepts his prayer as long as he wears this garment.” (Ahmad)
14) Wuhaib Ibn Al-Ward said, “If you were to stand in Prayer equally as this column stands in the Masjid, it would be of no avail until you take care about your livelihood, i.e., to verify what is lawful from what is Haram.”
15) Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allaah be pleased with them both) said, “Allaah never accepts the Prayer of a man who feed on Haram until he repents.”
Similar to the one who spends unlawful money in disobedience of Allaah is the one who purifies his garment by urine. Assuredly, only water can purify one’s garment just only as the lawful can obliterate sins.”
16) ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) said, “We used to abstain from nine tenths of Halal lest it may contain a Haram.”
17) Ka’b Ibn ‘Ayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) reported the Nabi of Allaah (pbuh) to have said,
“A body that is nourished unlawfully will not enter Jannat (paradise).” (Tabarani)
18) Zaid Ibn Arqam reported that, “Abu Bakr had a slave who used to give him some of his earnings. Abu Bakr used to eat from it. One day he brought something and Abu Bakr ate from it. The slave said to him, ‘Do you know what is this?’ The slave said, ‘Once, in the Pre-Islamic Period of ignorance I told somebody’s future though I did not know this knowledge of foretelling but I cheated him, and when he met me, he gave me something for that service, and that is what you have eaten from. Then Abu Bakr put his hand in his mouth and vomited whatever was present in his stomach.” Later on, Abu Bakr was asked, “O Abu Bakr! Have you done all this because of a Haram mouthful?” He replied, “By Allaah! If I were to perish myself to get this mouthful out of me, I would have no hesitation to do so because I heard the Nabi of Allaah say,
‘Everybody that is nourished unlawfully, Jahannam Hell would be his abode.” (Bukhari)
However, the Muslim scholars state that the consumption of Haram includes various major sins such as treachery, oppression, robbery, usury, taking the orphan’s property with no right, false witness, bribery, deception, gambling, sorcery, foretelling, adultery, fornication, and the practice of wailing, lamenting and showing excessive grief for the dead.
19) The Nabi of Allaah (pbuh) said,
“On the Day of Judgment, there will come some people with righteous deeds which are as huge as the Mount of Tuhamah. These righteous deeds would be soon scattered and invalidated. Consequently, those people would be thrown into Jahannam (Hell-fire).” The Companions (may Allaah be pleased with them) wondered, “O Nabi of Allaah! How would this happen!” He (pbuh) replied, “Those people used to perform Prayer, fast, gives Zakah and offer Hajj, but they used to consume Haram so Allaah invalidated their righteous deeds.” (Tabarani)
It is narrated that a righteous man was seen in a vision after his death and was asked about his affair.
Thereupon this man explained, “Fine! But I have been prevented from entering Paradise because of a needle which I borrowed in my life and did not give it back to its owner.”
And Allah Knows Best
Mufti Elias (May Allah Protect him)
Category:Aqaaid (Beliefs and Practices), Food Related, Saum (Fasting)
Please be aware the date specified by this code is an approximate and may need to be adjusted. As we all know months in Islam are calculated by the Phases of the moon which vary at times.