Asalaamu alaikoum wa rahmatuh Allahi wa barakatuh,
I was just wondering about something and hoping someone can help me out insha'Allah….
I am having an ultrasound done this Friday insha'Allah and my husband and I were planning on finding out the sex of our baby… but someone told me today that before we do that, I'd better look into seeing if that was halaal or not. Does anyone know the ruling on finding out the sex of your baby before it's born? Are there any fatwas regarding that? I just want to make sure that it's ok and not haraam, especially since it's in 2 days, and so if any of you could help me asap with the answer, I'd really appreciate it!! Jazak Allahu Khair!
Wasalaam alaikoum,

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
There are two different types of �ghaib� (unseen), absolute and relative. The absolute ghaib belongs only to Allah, such as the knowledge of the future that he did not disclose to any of His creations. Examples on the relative ghaib would include what is taking place in a different country at this time, it is ghaib to us because of our limited capacities and lack of encompassing knowledge, but it is not of the absolute ghaib.
The sex of the fetus in the womb is of the relative knowledge of the unseen that is kept from some of Allah�s creations and disclosed to others. It is not, at least in the latter stages of the absolute knowledge of the unseen that belongs only to Allah.
The reason why the question is asked � I think � and some Muslims may have some hesitation about this issue is the following verse:
Allah says,
“إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْأَرْحَامِ وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَّاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَدًا وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ.”
� Verily, Allah! With Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, He sends down the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die. Verily, Allah is All Knower, All Aware (of things).�
That which is in the wombs here does not apply to the sex, though the sex may be at some earlier stage of the knowledge of the absolute ghaib. It is about everything about this creature and its future.
The proof on this is that we were told that the angel knows the sex of the fetus. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,
” يَدْخُلُ الْمَلَكُ على النُّطْفَةِ بَعْدَ ما تَسْتَقِرُّ في الرَّحِمِ بِأَرْبَعِينَ أو خَمْسَةٍ وَأَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةً فيقول يا رَبِّ أَشَقِيٌّ أو سَعِيدٌ فَيُكْتَبَانِ فيقول أَيْ رَبِّ أَذَكَرٌ أو أُنْثَى فَيُكْتَبَانِ وَيُكْتَبُ عَمَلُهُ وَأَثَرُهُ وَأَجَلُهُ وَرِزْقُهُ ثُمَّ تُطْوَى الصُّحُفُ فلا يُزَادُ فيها ولا يُنْقَصُ�
�After the Nutfah [drop (of semen)] is in the womb for forty or forty five nights, the angel enters and says: My Lord, will he be good or evil? Both will be written. Then he says, My Lord, would he be male or female? Both will be written. In addition, his deeds, actions, death and livelihood will be recorded. Then his document of destiny is rolled and there shall be no addition to it or subtraction from it.� [Reported by Muslim from Hudhaifa ibn Aseed]
Since the angel knows the sex, it is not of the absolute knowledge of the unseen from which all creatures are barred. Based on this, the earlier scholars did not reprimand the physicians who attempted through their rather primitive means to guess the sex of the fetus.
There is no harm in trying to know the sex of the baby before its birth through the fetal ultrasound.
Allah knows best.

I am a Muslim woman and my husband used to be Muslim, yet, has became convinced of strange beliefs and started to propagate them.
He says it is not mandatory for any one to subscribe to the religion of Islam, that the five daily prayers are not mandatory, and that a Muslim may instead say �Allah� inside his heart. He, also, claims to be an assistant of �al-Mahdi�, as well as other false beliefs. I, as well as other Muslims from the community, have tirelessly advised him and invited him to repent. He insists to follow his new ways. And it has been years now. At present, he is on a business trip overseas, and is expected to be back here to live with me in the home we share.
Is it permissible for me to maintain this marriage, and to live with him like a wife? Please give me a fatwa.

All Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be on His messenger. To proceed: We ask Allah for this sister to be rewarded greatly in goodness and keep her firm in Islam and make her up for her loss .We, also, say to this sister that her husband, according to his new beliefs, has became an apostate, particularly that he has been advised by the sister and others, yet insists to follow his new path.
A Muslim woman may not stay married to an apostate husband, and she may not let him touch her, by the consensus of the scholars for Allah said:
(يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا جَاءَكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنَاتُ مُهَاجِرَاتٍ فَامْتَحِنُوهُنَّ اللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِإِيمَانِهِنَّ فَإِنْ عَلِمْتُمُوهُنَّ مُؤْمِنَاتٍ فَلا تَرْجِعُوهُنَّ إِلَى الْكُفَّارِ لا هُنَّ حِلٌّ لَهُمْ وَلا هُمْ يَحِلُّونَ لَهُنَّ ) (الممتحنة: 10)
“O ye who believe! When there come to you believing women refugees, examine (and test) them: Allah knows best as to their Faith: if ye ascertain that they are Believers, then send them not back to the Unbelievers. They are not lawful (wives) for the Unbelievers, nor are the (Unbelievers) lawful (husbands) for them.”
(Quran 60-10)
Imam al-Shafe�ey said in his book �al-Umm�: �if the married couple were in any land, that of Islam, or that of war, and one of them apostatized, then our decree here is similar to the case in which a married couple who are pagans in case one of them becomes Muslim, the marriage is annulled & the rest of the secondary rulings all apply……and I found in the decree of Allah Blessed & most high the prohibition of giving in marriage Muslim women to polytheists & the prohibition of Muslim men marrying pagan women …and I found that when one of the married couple apostatizes, martial relations become forbidden, so a disbeliever may not have sex with a believing woman …and if the man apostatized after having sex with his wife then he should be prevented from approaching her again ,and when her waiting period expires before he returns to Islam, the marriage would be considered annulled:�
Based on the above statement, this sister must do the following:
(1). Treat her husband like a foreign man, and not let him touch her or be alone with her.
(2). Start counting her waiting period (which is three menstrual periods for those who menstruate); and she should begin from the day she receives this fatwa or any similar fatwa from an Islamic center…etc.
(3). If her husband returned to Islam, she may go back to him as a wife based on their previous contract, and they don�t have to re-marry so long as he does that before her waiting period ends.
(4). If her waiting period ends and he has not returned to Islam she would be entitled, Islamically, to marry another Muslim. She also has the right to wait for her previous husband in hopes that Allah may guide him one day and she may return to him. In the case that this happens, it would be better to initiate a new marriage contract, although some scholars maintain that their original contract suffices, yet as long as she is waiting for him, she should continue to treat him like a foreign man and not let him touch her.
(5). We recommend to the sister to continue her supplication for her husband that Allah may guide him, and to continue to invite him to Islam (without being alone with him),this may be done by writing, or over the phone, or giving him books and tapes, or arranging for meetings between him and scholars of Islam to advise him.
All of this given that she has enough faith and knowledge to protect herself from his suspicions, yet if she fears for herself that he may sway her away from her religion and make her doubt her beliefs , and she can�t rebuttal him, then we recommend to her to completely abandon him.
We, also, recommend to the sister in case she was interested in marrying someone else after her period ends that she go through the appropriate legal actions to terminate the first marriage before getting married again.
Finally, we recommend to the sister: patience and sincerity; and we ask Allah Most High to deliver you out of your hardship, and make all of your affairs easy.
And All Praise Be To Allah

This Article was written in response to the following question: How to build bridges with people of other religious communities without compromising our belief?

  

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.

 

 

If a group of Muslims worked with Christians and Jews, or Hindus and atheists on cleaning their neighborhoods, saving the environment, protecting the oppressed, and standing for the poor, homeless, uninsured…etc, that would be a hilf fuddol (Virtuous Alliance, like the one the Prophet was part of before Islam and he said that he would be part of it in Islam).

How much of the efforts of Muslims should be spent on matters like saving the environment when the ummah is facing such enormous challenges would be a different discussion, but if some of us did this, it would be good even if that was their primary activity (given they fulfilled their obligations).

To have shared religious services or the like would be crossing the lines. Also, we do not need to sanction their religion to show friendliness, after all the Muslims in India will need to accept Hinduism as a way to salvation, and to be politically correct, you will also need to accept atheism as a respected doctrine. (In fact, many atheists and agnostics are better to us than many of the people of the book).

If Islam is from God, then it is natural that God has the right to define which way leads to him. This is not only in Islam, but in all religions of Divine origin.

Extra ecclesia nullum salus (no salvation outside the church)!

Allah says,

"وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ"

“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” (3:85)

And he says,"إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيْنَ اللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُواْ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلاً   151 أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ حَقًّا وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا  152 وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلَمْ يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ أُوْلَئِكَ سَوْفَ يُؤْتِيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَكَانَ اللّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا"

“Those who deny Allah and His apostles, and (those who) wish to separate Allah from His apostles, saying: "We believe in some but reject others": And (those who) wish to take a course midway* They are in truth (equally) unbelievers; and we have prepared for unbelievers a humiliating punishment.*To those who believe in Allah and His apostles and make no distinction between any of the apostles, we shall soon give their (due) rewards: for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful.” (4:150-152)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,

" والذي نفسي بيده ، لا يسمع بي أحد من هذه الأمة : يهودي ولا نصرني ، ثم يموت ولم يؤمن بالذي أرسلت به إلا كان من أهل النار "

“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, no one of this nation, Jew or Christian, will hear of me then die without believing in that with which I have been sent, but he will be one of the people of Hell.” (Narrated by Muslim).

 

The notion of Abrahamic Faiths cannot be answered by any statement better than Allah’s; He said,

 "مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ"“Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.” (3:67) 

There are two important points to mention in this regard:

1-      No one will be held accountable for not being Muslim if they did not hear about the true message of Islam.

2-      We can never say to an individual that he/she will enter heaven or hell, for we can never be sure of their end, even if we were standing by their bedside when they die. We only say that those who die as Muslims will enter Paradise.

 

                It is important to understand that for a religious minority, the notions of “All religions are equal” or “Religions are different paths leading to the same end” are dangerous and their acceptance is a commitment of communal suicide. That is because there is always enormous pressure to assimilate into the mainstream.

 

Having said that, it is important to note that you don’t have to accept someone’s religion to treat them kindly. This whole concept is foreign to us, and in part stems from the severe intolerance shown by the Europeans of the middle ages to those of other religions or sects. One way to counter this was to raise doubts about religion in general, about one’s ability to be certain of his own, and make the people at least believe that other religions are not worse than theirs.

 

We should not have this problem, for we can disagree with someone’s religion or lifestyle and continue to be kind to them even if they were pagans. In fact, the following verse was in reference to the pagans,

"لَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ"

Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers (al-Mumtahanah 8)

 

The Prophet said,

"من آذى ذميا فقد آذاني و من آذاني فقد آذى الله"

“He who harms a peaceful/contracted non-Muslim Harms me; and he who Harms me Harms Allah.” [al-Tabarani, with a chain that is sound/hassan]

  And he said,

"من آذى ذميا فأنا خصيمه."

“He who Harms a peaceful/contracted non-Muslim, then I will be His opponent.” [al-Khateeb, with a chain that is sound/hassan]

And said,

"من أمن رجلا على دمه فقتله فأنا برئ من القاتل وإن كان المقتول كافرا." [رواه النسائي والبخاري في التاريخ وصححه الألباني في صحيح الجامع من حديث عمرو بن الحمق الخزاعي]

  “If someone entrusts a person with his life and then that person killed him, then I am clear of the killer even if the victim is a disbeliever.” [reported by an-Nasa’ey and al-Bukhari in his book at-Tareekh and authenticated by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jami’]

So, the “Kill the infidels” practice is not ours and it is completely foreign to Islam.

 

Moreover, we were commanded to avoid stereotypes, Allah says,

"وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لاَّ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلاَّ مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَائِمًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الأُمِّيِّينَ سَبِيلٌ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ"

“Among the People of the Book are some who, if entrusted with a hoard of gold, will (readily) pay it back; others, who, if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless thou constantly stoodest demanding, because, they say, "there is no call on us (to keep faith) with these ignorant (Pagans)." but they tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it.” (3:75)

 

The Prophet –Peace be upon him- stated to the Christians of Najran “No man from among them may be held accountable for the violations of another of his fellows”. (Al-Kharaj by Abu-Yusuf)

 By agreement, The many verses in the Quran that talk about showing kindness to people, particularly the kin and neighbours are not limited to Muslims only. "وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالاً فَخُورًا."“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side, the traveller, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.” (An-Nisa’: 36) 

The Messenger of Allah showed us to respect the human soul when he stood during the funeral procession of a Jew until he was buried, and when he was alerted to it being the funeral of a Jew, he said,

"ألَيْسَت نَفْساً"

“Isn’t it a soul?” [Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

 

In building bridges and having dialogue with others, we are taught to be “diplomatic” and non-offensive, Allah says,

"وَلاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ فَيَسُبُّواْ اللّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ"

“Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do.” (al-An'am 108)

 

We were told to be gentle even with those who are sly and impolite.

"عن عَائِشَةَ رضي الله عنها قالت كان الْيَهُودُ يُسَلِّمُونَ على النبي  صلى الله عليه وسلم  يَقُولُونَ السَّامُ عَلَيْكَ فَفَطِنَتْ عَائِشَةُ إلى قَوْلِهِمْ فقالت عَلَيْكُمْ السَّامُ وَاللَّعْنَةُ فقال النبي  صلى الله عليه وسلم  مَهْلًا يا عَائِشَةُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الرِّفْقَ في الْأَمْرِ كُلِّهِ فقالت يا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ أو لم تَسْمَعْ ما يَقُولُونَ قال أو لم تَسْمَعِي اني أَرُدُّ ذَلِكِ عليهم فَأَقُولُ وَعَلَيْكُمْ." (ق)It was reported that when a group of Jews approached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and greeted him with twisted pronunciation, and thus uttered “Assam `Alaykum, O Muhammad!” (meaning “death and destruction come upon you”) instead of “As-salamu `Alaykum”, `A'ishah heard them and responded by saying, ‘Assamu `Alaykum also and the curse and wrath of Allah!” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked `A'ishah for what she had said. She told him, “Did you not hear what they said?” He said, “I did, and I responded by saying, ‘And upon you,’” (i.e., that death will come upon you as it will come upon me.) He went on to say, “O `A'ishah! Allah loves gentleness in all matters.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) 

In addition, if talking to them is futile, and they start to transgress, Allah teaches us to stay away from the ignorant and avoid altercation with them,

"خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ."

"Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant". (7:199)

 As for those who are kind to us, we should be more kind to them, and there are so many ways to build bridges with them without compromising our beliefs, such as:

·         Having interfaith dialogues to show them the beauty of Islam and develop a platform to work together on issues of common interest to humanity. Credible learned Muslims must conduct such activities. Otherwise, they often turn into disasters.

·         Working with them on the common good of humanity, such as the protection of the environment, and standing for the unfortunate.

·         Being part of the civil society or serving on school or city boards may be more important than sending someone to the US congress.

·         Visiting their churches and inviting them to our masjids, for Omar visited the church in Jerusalem and the Prophet hosted the delegation of the Najranite Christians in his masjid.

·         Showing support to just cases worldwide, whether the involved parties are Muslim or non-Muslim. 

·         Inviting them to food and responding to their invitation.

·         Exchanging home visits with them as long as our religious preferences are respected.

·         Being good neighbors who look after their neighbors’ interests, and good co-workers as well as classmates.

·         Exchanging gifts.

·         Charity. Opening our food shelves to all people. (that is what the Building Blocks plans to do); Having a drive to look after the homeless; Visiting shelters and passing out supplies to their residents; visiting senior homes and inviting all residents to food and socialization…etc.

 

There is so much that can be done to build such bridges and reach out to the non-Muslims who are good to us. After all, most of our ancestors converted to Islam because of the kind treatment they received from the Muslims.

 

Allah knows best.

Insha'Allah you are doing well and making the most of this blessed month of Ramadan. I hate to take up your time but I just have a short/quick question about the concept of “Nisab” for purposes of paying zakah.
I am extremely confused about Nisab……what is the purpose of it, what is the monetary value of it in today's society (here in Minnesota for example), and if a person meets the nisab requirement, is the zakat applicable on all of his/her income or only the income above the nisab value.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
The nissab is the zakatable minimum below which one is not considered to be wealthy enough to need to give zakat.
Ibn Qudamad said in al-�Umdah,
�No zakat on silver until it reaches two hundred dirham [approx. 595 gm of pure silver], and its zakat is five dirhams (2.5%), and there is no zakat on gold until it reaches twenty mithqal [approx.85 gm of pure gold], and its zakat is half a mithqal (2.5%).�
This is a consensus.
Now, should we use gold or silver to value our wealth? Some say use what is better for the poor, which means in our time silver since that will mean more people will pay zakat. It seems that gold is the more realistic measure of wealth and in valuation of wealth and whether it reached nisaab, we should use it.
So the equation is easy:
Price of 1 gm of pure gold X 85 = nisaab
You can figure out the price from the paper or online.
Today, the price of one gram of 24 kt gold is 26.21. multiply that by 85, and the nisaab will be $2228. If you have 3000, you must pay zakat on the entire 3000, not the 772 difference only.
Allah knows best.

My question today is regarding the hype about menstruation and the ruling of whether or not a woman can go to the mosque, read the quran and in my case.
I am a part of Muslim-Care and sometimes visit sick sister(s) @ the hospital (usually consists of reading a dua or short surah from the quran) is that permissible? Please advise…

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
As for staying in the masjid,
Menstruating women may not stay in the masjid according to the hanafis, malikis, shafe�ees and hanbalis. according to a less popular narration in the Hanbali school and the great student of Imam ash-Shafe�ee, Imam al-Muzaney, she may stay in the masjid, since the hadeeth forbidding her from it is weak, and they argued that she is not like the junub (one with major ritual impurity), who may not stay in the masjid by consensus, since her hayd (menstruation) may last for many days (up to one third or one half of her fertile life).
Despite the fact that it is very unlikely that the agreement of the four schools would be wrong, one cannot deny that the second opinion is strong, and barring the menstruating women from the mosques where they can learn and benefit themselves and accompany their children needs to be based on unequivocal evidence, which is lacking in this case.
It is also important to note that the Islamic centers in the west are not only masjids, but they include the masjid, which is the prayer hall and other utility rooms. Outside of the prayer hall, they have stores and advertise on bulletin boards, which are all acts forbidden in the masjid, so it is the agreed upon 'urf (custom) that these areas are not part of the masjid. Therefore, menstruating women who hold the position of the majority may be able to come and stay outside the prayer hall and still listen to the lectures and accompany their husbands and/or children.
As for reading the Qur�an,
She may not read it according to the hanafis, shafe�ees and hanbalis, but Malik and Ibn Taymeah allow her to recite the Quran, and their opinion seems stronger due to the lack of authentic evidence to support the first opinion.
The majority uses, amongst other arguments the following hadeeth,
“لَا تَقْرَأْ الْحَائِضُ ولا الْجُنُبُ شيئا من الْقُرْآنِ”
�The menstruating woman and one with major sexual impurity may not reed any part of the Quran.� (Abu Dawood & at-Tirmidhi). But, the hadeeth was deemed weak by the scholars of hadeeth, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
As for du�a�,
It is allowable by consensus.
Allah knows best.