How to save food from rotting

Can a woman offer Salah by wearing a skirt?

Question 1: What do the blessed ‘Ulama [Islamic scholars] state regarding the following matter: What is the Islamic ruling for a woman on offering Salah by wearing a skirt?

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ  ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

A woman’s lower part of the legs remains uncovered while wearing a skirt. It is neither permissible for a woman to wear such clothes nor can Salah be offered while wearing a skirt because Satr-e-‘Awrat is Fard in Salah and lower part of the legs is included in a woman’s Satr. If one-fourth portion of any body part included in Satr is uncovered, or in case of many uncovered Satr body parts, if one-fourth portion of the smallest of those body parts is uncovered, then Salah does not even begin in such condition; in fact Salah remains Fard on a person. So, it can be understood how bad is such piece of clothing which obstructs the fulfilment of the right of Allah عَزَّوَجَلَّ. Therefore, neither can Salah be offered while wearing such piece of clothing nor is it permissible to wear such piece of clothing in front of non-Mahram even when not offering Salah.

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ   عَزَّوَجَلَّ   وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم   صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ واٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

Will a woman lay her forearms flat while performing Sajdah?

Question 2: What do the blessed ‘Ulama state regarding the following matter: Will a woman lay her forearms flat on the ground while performing Sajdah or keep them raised?

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ  ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

Woman’s Sajdah is not like that of the men. In fact woman has been commanded to perform Sajdah compactly. Her upper arms should touch her sides, stomach should touch her thighs, thighs should touch her calves and shins should touch the ground, and she should lay her forearms flat on the ground.

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ   عَزَّوَجَلَّ   وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم   صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ واٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

Can a woman offer Zuhr Salah at home during Khutbah?

Question 3: What do the blessed ‘Ulama state regarding the following matter: Can a woman offer Zuhr Salah in home when the Friday Khutbah is being delivered in the Masjid, or not?

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ  ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

Women can offer Zuhr Salah at home when the Friday Khutbah is being delivered in the Masjid. However, it is better that they offer Zuhr Salah after the congregational Friday Salah is offered. Listening to the Khutbah is Fard for the people present in the Masjid, not for the women present at home.

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ   عَزَّوَجَلَّ   وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم   صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ واٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

Can a woman offer Salah bareheaded in the dark?

Question 4: What do the blessed ‘Ulama state regarding the following matter: In hot weather, can an Islamic sister offer Salah bareheaded in a room in case it is dark, or not? In such case, even Mahram^[1] does not see her, let alone a non-Mahram.

بِسْمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِیْمِ

اَلْجَوَابُ بِعَوْنِ الْمَلِکِ الْوَھَّابِ اَللّٰھُمَّ  ھِدَایَۃَ الْحَقِّ وَالصَّوَابِ

For Salah, a woman’s head and even her hanging hair are included in Satr-e-‘Awrat. Therefore, Salah will not be valid if a woman does not keep her head covered while offering Salah despite having a piece of clothing [for it]; it will not make any difference if the room is dark and no one sees her. Satr is Fard for Salah.

Sadr-ush-Shari’ah, Badr-ut-Tareeqah, Mufti Muhammad Amjad ‘Ali A’zami رَحْمَةُ اللہِ تَعَالٰی عَلَيْه has stated: Satr-e-‘Awrat is Wajib [compulsory] in all conditions, whether offering Salah or not, whether alone or in front of anyone; it is not permissible to uncover it without any valid reason even when alone. Moreover, there is Ijma’ [consensus of ‘Ulama] on Satr being Fard when a person is in front of the people or offering Salah. If a person offers Salah in a dark room without wearing clothes and he has sufficient piece of Taahir [pure] clothing which can be used for doing Satr, there is Ijma’ that Salah will not be valid even if no one is present over there. (Bahar-e-Shari’at, vol. 1, pp. 479)

وَاللہُ اَعْلَمُ   عَزَّوَجَلَّ   وَ رَسُوْلُہ اَعْلَم   صَلَّی اللّٰہُ تَعَالٰی عَلَیْہِ واٰلِہٖ وَسَلَّم

Food is a great blessing of Allah Almighty. Food did not use to rot in the ancient times. Food started to rot since Bani Israel started hoarding up Mann-o-Salwa in the field of Teeh despite prohibition.

Methods of preserving rice

In order to preserve rice for one to two days, following five methods are useful:

1 Keep them in refrigerator.

2 Keep the pot containing rice in ice or cold water.

3 In order to preserve rice for 4 to 6 hours in hot weather, keep them at room temperature.

4 For food storage, good quality airtight ventilated plastic containers are available in the market. These containers are the best to not only freeze rice, but any type of food.

5 Cool down the rice containing vegetable or lentil or Pulao-rice etc., and then put in any glass bowl, cover it with a plastic foil, and then freeze it.

Method of preserving curry

If curry containing meat, mince, vegetable and lentil etc., has been cooked more than required and one fears it getting rot, then:

6 In case there is no electricity, then put curry in a clay pot and keep it in water. In summer, it will stay un-rotten for one day and night.

7 It will also remain preserved if refrigerated in a glass bowl.

8 In old days, people also used to preserve food in a basket tying it with a rope under a tree. If one has a tree in his house but no electricity supply, then this method can also be adopted.

Note: In order to heat-up the curry taken from the freezer, put a little bit of cooking oil in the frying pan so that no burning smell mixes with food while heating it.

Method of preserving Roti

People use different types of flour. At some places, people only use whole-wheat flour and at some places, people only use refined flour. At some places, people mix both of them to make Rotis. Below are three methods of keeping it soft or preserved:

9 Wrap it properly in a piece of cloth and put it in a hot pot.

10 Put a little bit of ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil in the flour while kneading it.

11 The overnight leftover dry roti can be made edible by warming it on the pan by moistening it with a little bit of cooking oil and water.

Madani Mashwarah

The best approach is that we should cook curry, rice etc., in such adequate quantity which suffices one or two times meal only. Still if any food is leftover despite adopting this approach, then distribute the leftover food among needy Muslims with good intentions and become deserving of rewards. Do not throw it in dustbin as it is disrespecting sustenance and wasting the blessings of Allah Almighty. Use the blessings of Allah Almighty in the best of the manners, اِنْ شَآءَاللہ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ your blessings will increase further. However, keep in mind that no matter how carefully you store food and beverages, risk of harmful bacteria growing in them would always exist.

Food is a great blessing of Allah Almighty. Food did not use to rot in the ancient times. Food started to rot since Bani Israel started hoarding up Mann-o-Salwa in the field of Teeh despite prohibition.

Methods of preserving rice

In order to preserve rice for one to two days, following five methods are useful:

1 Keep them in refrigerator.

2 Keep the pot containing rice in ice or cold water.

3 In order to preserve rice for 4 to 6 hours in hot weather, keep them at room temperature.

4 For food storage, good quality airtight ventilated plastic containers are available in the market. These containers are the best to not only freeze rice, but any type of food.

5 Cool down the rice containing vegetable or lentil or Pulao-rice etc., and then put in any glass bowl, cover it with a plastic foil, and then freeze it.

Method of preserving curry

If curry containing meat, mince, vegetable and lentil etc., has been cooked more than required and one fears it getting rot, then:

6 In case there is no electricity, then put curry in a clay pot and keep it in water. In summer, it will stay un-rotten for one day and night.

7 It will also remain preserved if refrigerated in a glass bowl.

8 In old days, people also used to preserve food in a basket tying it with a rope under a tree. If one has a tree in his house but no electricity supply, then this method can also be adopted.

Note: In order to heat-up the curry taken from the freezer, put a little bit of cooking oil in the frying pan so that no burning smell mixes with food while heating it.

Method of preserving Roti

People use different types of flour. At some places, people only use whole-wheat flour and at some places, people only use refined flour. At some places, people mix both of them to make Rotis. Below are three methods of keeping it soft or preserved:

9 Wrap it properly in a piece of cloth and put it in a hot pot.

10 Put a little bit of ghee (clarified butter) or cooking oil in the flour while kneading it.

11 The overnight leftover dry roti can be made edible by warming it on the pan by moistening it with a little bit of cooking oil and water.

Madani Mashwarah

The best approach is that we should cook curry, rice etc., in such adequate quantity which suffices one or two times meal only. Still if any food is leftover despite adopting this approach, then distribute the leftover food among needy Muslims with good intentions and become deserving of rewards. Do not throw it in dustbin as it is disrespecting sustenance and wasting the blessings of Allah Almighty. Use the blessings of Allah Almighty in the best of the manners, اِنْ شَآءَاللہ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ your blessings will increase further. However, keep in mind that no matter how carefully you store food and beverages, risk of harmful bacteria growing in them would always exist.