Islam

• Khususiyat - specialities of the ummah (community) of Prophet Muhammad
• Today is 1420 years after Hijrah
• Since the Sunnah is the tafseer (explanation) of the quran, many ulama say that the promise to preserve the quran is inclusive of a promise to preserve the hadith of rasoolullah.
• The system adopted by the early scholars to detect incorrect or fabricated hadith was the isnaad (chain of narrators). No hadith was accepted without its isnaad. Whoever narrated a hadith was compelled to first mention its isnaad (i.e who was his sheikh, his sheikh’s sheikh, his sheikh’s sheikh’s sheikh… until rasoolullah). The scholars would then scrutinise every narrator (other than sahabah because they are truthful and upright)
• They considered the following when scrutinising narrators:

  1. Did the narrator have Good memory?
  2. Did he meet the person from whom he narrated the hadith from?
  3. Did he omit a narrator (weak/ unreliable narrator) from the isnaad
  4. Did the isnaad reach rasoolullah unbroken?
  5. If there was a break in the isnaad, where did it occur?
  6. Did the narration agree with the narrations of others who were narrating from the same sheikh? 
• The narrations of the following narrators were not accepted when scrutinising a narrator:

  1. A narrator regarding whose reliability the scholars differed
  2. A narrator who made too many mistakes in the sense that his narrations often conflicted with the narrations of the same hadith by other reliable narrators.
  3. A forgetful narrator
  4. A narrator with a bad memory
  5. A narrator who confused his narrations
  6. A narrator who learnt hadith from reliable and unreliable narrators and was not cautious in this regard.
• Al Hadeeth As-Saheeh (the sound/authentic hadith)
• Al Hadeeth Ad-Da’eef (the weak hadith)
• Conditions for Al Hadeeth As-Saheeh:

  1. Its Isnad is unbroken until the final authority (Rasoolullah or the Sahabi that narrated the hadeeth)
  2. All narrators in its Isnad are Adil (behavior is Islamically acceptable)
  3. All narrators in its Isnad must be accurate and able to narrate all their narrations accurately at any time
  4. Its subject matter does not contradict narrations of the same hadeeth by other narrators; it must not be shaadh (narrated by one narrator)
  5. It must be free from all ‘ilal (hidden defects)
• Al Hadeeth Al-Hasan: when all the conditions of the hadeeth as-saheeh are found except that one of the narrators is sometimes not accurate.
• Al Hadeeth Al-Da’eef: When the conditions of the hadeeth as-saheeh and the hadeeth al-hasan are not fulfilled, the hadeeth is called Da’eef (weak).
• Hadeeth Al-Da’eef is a hadeeth where any of the following are found:

  • Break in the isnaad
  • Narrator is a confirmed liar or known for fabricating hadeeth
  • Narrator accused of fabrication
  • Narrator is careless and not accurate
  • Narrator is not 'adl
  • Narrator is very hesitant when narrating
  • Narrator conflicts with reliable scholars on the same subject
  • Narrator is majhool (unknown reliability)
  • Narrator is an innovator
  • Narrator has a bad memory, with incorrect narrations exceeding correct ones
• • If the break occurs between a Taabi’ee and Rasoolullah the hadeeth is called mursal. Many scholars regard the Hadeeth Al-Mursal as authentic. 
  • If the break occurs anywhere else, the narration is called Mu'allaq, Mu’dah or Munqati (depending on how many times the break occurs and whether it occurs consecutively or not). Such narrations are unanimously regarded as Da’eef.
• ‘ilal (hidden defect).
• Adil (behaviour is islamically acceptable)
• shaadh (narrated by one narrator)
• Dozens of books were written regarding:

  • The Sahabah: Such books record the names and brief life- sketches of all those sahabah who narrated hadith
  • The weak narrators: such books record the names and basic details of all the weak narrators
  • The fabricated (mawdoo’) hadith: Such books record all the mawdoo’ (fabricated hadeeth)
• Mustalahul Hadeeth (principles of hadeeth)
• Al-Jarh Wat-Ta’deel (authenticating and invalidating narrators)
• Al-Hamdu Lillah, the illustrious scholars of Islam and their endeavour were able to preserve the hadith of Muhammad (SAW)
• The Islamic Law of inheritance is known by the following two terms: Ilm ul Faraaid and Ilm ul Mirath.
• The term faraaid means ‘is fixed and stipulated’. 
• The term Mirath means transfer and pass on from one person to another
• Rasoolullah said: Learn the Fara'id and teach it to the people because it is half of knowledge, it will be forgotten and it is the first thing that will be lifted from my Ummah.
• Fara'id - the laws of succession
• Sayyidina Abdulla bin Amr narrates that true knowledge is of three types:

  1. Knowledge of the Quran
  2. Knowledge of the Sunnah
  3. Knowledge of the Fara'id
• The types of shares are: ½, ¼, ⅛, ⅔, ⅓, ⅙ 
• If someone who follows Islamic laws (Shari'ah) leaves a will that goes against the rules outlined in Islamic inheritance laws (Fara'id), the heirs – the people entitled to inherit the person's belongings are required to fix the differences. This means they must follow the Islamic rules for inheritance and give up their legal shares (as mentioned in the will) in favour of the shares specified by Islamic laws. The goal is to ensure that the distribution of the deceased person's property aligns with the principles set out in Islamic inheritance laws.
• The estate of the deceased person must be administered in the following order:

  1. Payment of funeral and burial expenses
  2. Payment of debts
  3. Payment of legacies up to a maximum of one-third of the remaining property after payment of funeral expenses and debts.
  4. Distribution to shar’ie heirs according to the laws of Fara'id
• The criteria for determining the legal heirs and their proportionate shares is based on the law of ‘proximity of relation’ to the deceased.
• During the days of ‘Jahiliyah’ (pre-islamic ignorance) only those who could fight and defend the family name were entitled to inherit.
• Some people say Islam treats women unfairly in inheritance, but it's important to understand the bigger picture. In Islam, women keep full control of their property after marriage, and they're not required to support themselves or their families financially, even if they're wealthy. In contrast to these privileges a male has to maintain:

  1. Himself
  2. His parents
  3. His wife and children
  4. His poor relatives
• The estate of the deceased must be strictly administered in the following order:

  1. Payment of burial expenses
  2. Payment of debts
  3. Payment of legacies and bequeathed religious obligations up to a maximum of one third of the remaining estate.
  4. Distribution to legal heirs according to the laws of the Shari’ah
• Funeral expenses include all expenses directly related to the burial. It excludes feeding guests attending the funeral.
• A muslim is obliged to keep a record of, and declare the following: 

  1. Creditors
  2. Amaanat (items entrusted to him of safe-keeping)
  3. Unfulfilled religious obligations (e.g. missed salaah, fasting, sajda-e-tilawat, etc).
  4. Debtors
• A testator also has the option of bequeathing a maximum of one third of his estate to persons who are not his heirs. 
• Matrimonial Regime

  In Islam, marriages have a specific contract. If you're married in a way that doesn't follow Islamic inheritance rules, like community property, you should adjust your marriage setup to make sure your estate is distributed according to Islamic principles.
• Any person of the age of puberty or over may make a Will. In the case of an Islamic Will, one who has matured before that will also be obliged to do so.
• Every person who is over the age of 14 years is competent to witness a Will. A witness cannot sign by making a mark. NO BENEFICIARY MAY SIGN AS A WITNESS
• Annuities and Life Policies

  If you have a life insurance policy and the total premiums you paid over time are more than the money received from the policy, the extra amount becomes part of your estate. That surplus, or the difference, should be given to charity, specifically to a deserving Muslim who qualifies for Zakat. This is done without expecting any reward, as it's considered a mandatory way to distribute excess money gained in a lawful manner.