The Guiding Helper

353 Pages·2001·2.24 MB·English

TTTThhhheeee GGGGuuuuiiiiddddiiiinnnngggg HHHHeeeellllppppeeeerrrr
Main Text &
Explanatory Notes
A Guidebook for Life
1st Edition
© The Guiding Helper Foundation 2001-2002
"General and unrestricted permission is granted for the unaltered
duplication, distribution, and transmission of this text on either a
profit or non-profit basis."
In Plain English: Make as many copies as you want for free.
And you can even charge people for it!
Foreword
All praise is for Allah, the Lord of the worlds. Peace and blessings be on the Prophet, his family,
his companions, and all those that follow.
The Guiding Helper is a practical guide to the dīn that the Prophet Muhammad (May Allah bless
him and give him peace) brought.
The Guiding Helper is based on a famous metered verse song written by a scholar named Ahmad
ibn `Ali ibn `Abd al-Wahid ibn `Ashir born in Spain and raised in Fez, Morocco about seven
hundred years ago. This scholar divided his song into three books: (1) one about Islamic beliefs,
(2) one about Islamic law, and (3) one about Islamic spirituality. He based the first book on a
famous text of beliefs called The Mother of Proofs for the Tenets of Belief written by Muhammad
ibn Yusuf al-Sunusi al-Husayni. He based his second book on a renown text of Maliki law
called The Concise Text written by Khalil Ibn Ishaq ibn Ya`qub. He based his third book on a
popular text on spirituality called The Letter of Qushayri written by `Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri.
All three of these texts are solid and trusted sources for genuine Islamic knowledge.
The Guiding Helper also returns to these three texts. Additionally, we've added sections not
found in the original song by Ibn `Ashir by referring to other trusted sources in the above-
mentioned three areas. Thus, we hope that the Guiding Helper will serve as a solid and trusted
source of genuine Islamic knowledge for the English-speaking people from now until the end of
the world.
However to further demonstrate that the Guiding Helper is reliable, we have prepared two
separate books in addition to the one you are reading now that contain proofs from secondary
and primary texts for the points mentioned in the main song and explanatory notes.
With this, we ask Allah for forgiveness and hope that He places His blessing in this work as He
can only do.
Abu Qanit al-Sharif al-Hasani,
(Main Author and Student of Sheikh `Al F l l )
ī ī ā ī

The People of the West
(from my followers) will remain
victorious and on the truth all
the way up until the Last Hour*.
(Prophetic Saying - Sahih Muslim, Universal Reference Number: 3551)
* Insha’allah, this phrase will apply to some people in the East also.

Table of Contents
SONG 1: INTRODUCTION 1
SONG 2: CORE BELIEFS AND THEIR PROOFS 8
SONG 3: THE THREE PARTS OF DIN 24
SONG 4: THE LEGAL RULINGS 34
SONG 5: PURITY AND WATER 40
SONG 6: PERFORMING WET ABLUTION 45
SONG 7: LEGAL RULINGS FOR WET ABLUTION 51
SONG 8: ACTS THAT BREAK ABLUTION 58
SONG 9: BATHING FOR PURIFICATION 65
SONG 10: DRY ABLUTION 71
SONG 11: THE TIMINGS FOR THE FIVE PRAYERS 77
SONG 12: PERFORMING PRAYER 82
SONG 13: COVERING UP AND BLEEDING 92
SONG 14: WAJIBS OF PRAYER 97
SONG 15: SUNNAHS OF PRAYER 104
SONG 16: FADILAHS OF PRAYER 113
SONG 17: DISLIKED ACTS IN PRAYER 117
SONG 18: PROSTRATIONS OF FORGETFULNESS 120
SONG 19: ACTS THAT BREAK PRAYER 127
SONG 20: TYPES OF PRAYERS 133
SONG 21: GROUP PRAYER 143
SONG 22: THE FRIDAY PRAYER 150
SONG 23: PRAYERS OF FEAR 154
SONG 24: FUNERAL SERVICES 156
SONG 25: ZAKAT 166
SONG 26: ZAKAT AL-FITR 184
SONG 27: THE LUNAR MONTHS AND FASTING 186
SONG 28: MANDUB FASTING 197
SONG 29: I`TIKAF 200
SONG 30: PERFORMING HAJJ 202
SONG 31: LEGAL RULINGS FOR HAJJ 217
SONG 32: `UMRAH AND VISITING THE PROPHET 229
SONG 33: BEING TRUE TO ONE'S WORD 234
SONG 34: FOOD LAWS 236
SONG 35: NEW BABY SERVICES 241
SONG 36: HYGIENE AND CLOTHING LAWS 242
SONG 37: THE LAWS OF LOOKING, TOUCHING, AND RELATIONS 245
SONG 38: MARRIAGE 252
SONG 39: DIVORCE 265
SONG 40: INHERITANCE 275
SONG 41: MISCELLANEOUS LAWS 303
SONG 42: THE PATH TO ALLAH (PART I) 317
SONG 43: THE PATH TO ALLAH (PART II) 325
Main Text & Explanatory Notes
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Powerful
(Last minor revision: 21 January 2002 C.E. - 7 Dhu al-Qa`dah 1422 A.H.)
© The Guiding Helper Foundation 2001-2002
General and unrestricted permission for the unaltered duplication of this text is granted.
(In plain English: Make as many copies as you want for free.)
Song 1: Introduction
Praise Allah1 Who taught us2 what He asked us3 to know4. 1:15
Bless6 the Prophet7, his family8, and those who follow9. 1:2
10Allah, help us11 write songs12 that are useful13 and show light14 1:3
To all people15, even if they don't read or write16. 1:4
Help us follow three men17 in these songs and be brief18: 1:5

1 Allah, the Lord of the Universe, alone deserves all praise (a word in italics in a footnote may denote that it
appears in the main text above (even if in another grammatical form)).
2 Allah alone is the real teacher and guide.
3 Human beings and jinn are considered responsible for their beliefs and actions.
4 Allah has made it obligatory for His creation to know about Him, His messengers, and the dīn which He sent.
The din consists of beliefs in the mind/heart, actions with the tongue/body-parts, and spiritual states of the soul.
Both males and females are responsible for learning the necessary parts of the din and both males and females
can become scholars of the din.
5 The X:Y notation at the end of the line is used for indexing purposes. The X stands for the song number and
the Y represents the line number counting from the start of the Guiding Helper. The Guiding Helper contains a
total of exactly eighteen hundred lines (nine hundred rhymes), no more and no less. This notation is designed to
fully index the songs.
6 And give peace to
7 The last of Allah's messengers and prophets, Muhammad ibn `Abdullah ibn `Abd al-Muttalib (May Allah bless
him and give him peace)
8 The descendents of Hāshim ibn `Abd al-Munāf ibn Qu#ayy
9 All the Prophet's (May Allah bless him and give him peace) companions (May Allah be well pleased with
them) and all the later followers up until the Last Hour
10 O Allah, please…
11 Allah, we neither have the knowledge nor the literary ability necessary to guide people. So, please make the
pen flow with words that are correct and easily understood.
12 As metered-verse is easy to memorize, we hope these songs can help people internalize the din and implement
it in their everyday lives.
13 Give practical advice
14 That show people the way unto obeying, knowing, and befriending Allah
15 The din of Islam was sent for all humans and jinn regardless of their life situations and ethnic backgrounds.
16 Allah, help us use the common language of the English-speaking people in these songs so that both the
educated and uneducated can benefit.
17 The core beliefs of our din and the basics of the acts of worship are agreed upon by almost all scholars.
However as soon as one delves further, one is faced with a myriad of conflicting scholarly opinions (due to the
various plausible interpretations of the primary texts). The common man can easily get lost in this jungle of
opinions without the proper guidance. By following a specific recognized scholar, one can learn a consistent
and practicable way of worshiping and coming closer to Allah; and this is the real intent of knowledge.
1
The Guiding Helper
Abu Bishr Ishaq19 who wrote books20 about Belief21, 1:6
Malik22 who knew quite a bit23 and taught us24 some Law25, 1:7
And Junayd26 who spoke27 about the Path to Allah28. 1:8
29Knowledge30 doesn't alter31 things in reality32. 1:9
It only informs of them in passivity33. 1:10

Furthermore, if a group of people living in a certain region of the world willfully adopt the same manner of
practicing the din, it will lead to harmony and will help them avoid bitter conflict revolving around basic issues
of the din. Such people can then exert their energies towards constructive tasks, such as setting up schools for
their children, erecting libraries, arranging marriage counseling services, opening homeless shelters, founding
centers for affordable Islamic funeral services, organizing a local internal dispute-resolution system,
worshipping Allah with sincerity, etc.
18 Industrialization and modernization have put many stresses on the human being and have stretched his time-
handling abilities to the edge. Many people no longer have the time necessary to go through volumes of
scholarly works. Thus, we have tried to squeeze the necessary parts of the din into forty-three brief songs which
people can sing (together or alone), listen to, or read. Please note that the whole Guiding Helper can be sung
from beginning to end in a little over two hours from memory.
19 He is `Alī ibn Ismā`il ibn Abu Bishr Is!āq, a scholar of the third Islamic century who gathered together the
beliefs of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) and the early Muslims.
20 He is said to have written three hundred and eighty books among which were books about our belief system.
21 We will try our best to follow this man in the beliefs we narrate in the Guiding Helper.
22 He is Imam Mālik ibn Anas ibn Abū `Āmir al-A#ba&ī, a scholar of the second Islamic century.
23 Imam Malik was considered the most knowledgeable man in din of his time.
24 Imam Malik used to teach Jurisprudence from the Prophet's Masjid (May Allah bless him and give him
peace). Among his students were Imam al-Shāfi'ī and `Abd al-Ra&man ibn Qāsim. The latter's student Sa&nūn
(also pronounced Su&nūn) Sa`īd al-Tanūkhī is given credit for recording the legal positions of Imam Malik in
his book al-Mudawwanah al-Kubrā.
25 We will try our best to follow Imam Malik or his authorized heirs in the legal rulings we give in the Guiding
Helper.
26 He is Abu l-Qāsim al-Junayd ibn Mu&ammad, a scholar of the third Islamic century who taught people how to
go from the state of heedlessness to the state of knowing Allah with one's soul.
27 Junayd is best known for his short but meaningful phrases he taught his students.
28 We will try our best to follow this man or his later heirs in the songs that talk about taking a person from
heedlessness and ignorance to a state of witnessing and knowing Allah (i.e. Song 42 and Song 43, The Path to
Allah).
29 This is the start of the Book of Belief.
30 Knowledge is a firm conviction based upon evidence corresponding to reality that something is true (a word
in bold font in a footnote denotes that it is being defined).
31 The knowledge of something is separate and independent from the thing known. Knowing about something
does not alter the reality of the thing known.
32 Things have an independent reality and exist regardless of whether human beings are aware of them or not.
This applies to both physical objects in the universe and to true ideas. This is because Allah has created and
knows about everything and He is independent from human beings. For example, He may have created a distant
planet in a distant galaxy revolving around a distant star. Our ability to perceive such a planet does not alter the
reality of whether such a planet exists. Similarly, true ideas issue from Allah and whether or not human beings
understand them correctly does not alter the nature of these ideas with Allah.
2