Moosaa.Richardson
01-14-2013, 08:01 AM
Regarding my comment on the following thread on the old Salafitalk site which is no longer editable:
http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=11&Topic=8030
I wrote:
As a note for proper pronunciation: Yaa Allaah would be pronounced together as: Yallaah (saying the yaa’ and going right to the laam), since the hamza in Allaah’s name is hamzat al-wasl, however saying “Allaahumma” instead is the usage found in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. And Allaah knows best.
Today I was sent an authentic hadeeth which proves that at least one Companion supplicated saying, “Yaa Allaah,” and it was approved by the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), disproving my mistaken claim. A Companion was saying the following supplication at the end of his formal prayer, after the tashah-hud:
اللهم إني أسألك يا الله بأنك الواحد الأحد الصمد الذي لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوًا أحد أن تغفر لي ذنوبي إنك أنت الغفور الرحيم
Allaahumma (O Allaah)! Verily I ask you, yaa Allaah, as You are al-Waahid (the One), al-Ahad (another name meaning “the One”), as-Samad (the Eternal), the One who has no offspring nor was He born, nor is there anyone similar to Him, that You forgive me for my sins! Verily, You are al-Ghafoor (the Forgiving), ar-Raheem (the Ever Mercilful)!
Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) repeated (what means), “He has been forgiven,” three times. The hadeeth was collected by Aboo Daawood (#985), an-Nasaa’ee (#1301), and it is authentic.
While many scholars mention that “Allaahumma” is used to mean “Yaa Allaah“, it is not only permissible to say “Yaa Allaah” based on this clear hadeeth, it should be known that it is an established Sunnah.
ARABIC BENEFIT: Regarding the assumed problem with the pronunciation, that the alif in Allaah’s Name is actually hamzat al-wasl, which means it should be pronounced “Yallaah” ( يا الله ), and not “Yaa Allaah” ( يا ألله ), the early scholars of Arabic have exempted this alif from its original rule, and have allowed a hamzah to be added and pronounced, thus legitimizing the pronunciation of “Yaa Allaah”. See: al-Kitaab of Seebooyah (4/109) and more importantly: as-Sahaah of al-Jowharee (5/1798 under laam-yaa-haa).
The bottom line: The phrase “yaa Allaah” ( يا ألله ) used to call upon Allaah is correct and in no way problematic, as it is a phrase used in an authentic supplication from the Sunnah.
Please make a note of this if you learned this mistake from me, and help me to correct it by informing anyone you know who may have heard it from me as well, and may Allaah reward you.
*Special thanks to my brother, Naveed Khawaja (may Allaah bless him and his family), for sending me the hadeeth today.
http://www.salafitalk.net/st/viewmessages.cfm?Forum=11&Topic=8030
I wrote:
As a note for proper pronunciation: Yaa Allaah would be pronounced together as: Yallaah (saying the yaa’ and going right to the laam), since the hamza in Allaah’s name is hamzat al-wasl, however saying “Allaahumma” instead is the usage found in the Qur’aan and the Sunnah. And Allaah knows best.
Today I was sent an authentic hadeeth which proves that at least one Companion supplicated saying, “Yaa Allaah,” and it was approved by the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace), disproving my mistaken claim. A Companion was saying the following supplication at the end of his formal prayer, after the tashah-hud:
اللهم إني أسألك يا الله بأنك الواحد الأحد الصمد الذي لم يلد ولم يولد ولم يكن له كفوًا أحد أن تغفر لي ذنوبي إنك أنت الغفور الرحيم
Allaahumma (O Allaah)! Verily I ask you, yaa Allaah, as You are al-Waahid (the One), al-Ahad (another name meaning “the One”), as-Samad (the Eternal), the One who has no offspring nor was He born, nor is there anyone similar to Him, that You forgive me for my sins! Verily, You are al-Ghafoor (the Forgiving), ar-Raheem (the Ever Mercilful)!
Upon hearing this, the Messenger of Allaah (may Allaah raise his rank and grant him peace) repeated (what means), “He has been forgiven,” three times. The hadeeth was collected by Aboo Daawood (#985), an-Nasaa’ee (#1301), and it is authentic.
While many scholars mention that “Allaahumma” is used to mean “Yaa Allaah“, it is not only permissible to say “Yaa Allaah” based on this clear hadeeth, it should be known that it is an established Sunnah.
ARABIC BENEFIT: Regarding the assumed problem with the pronunciation, that the alif in Allaah’s Name is actually hamzat al-wasl, which means it should be pronounced “Yallaah” ( يا الله ), and not “Yaa Allaah” ( يا ألله ), the early scholars of Arabic have exempted this alif from its original rule, and have allowed a hamzah to be added and pronounced, thus legitimizing the pronunciation of “Yaa Allaah”. See: al-Kitaab of Seebooyah (4/109) and more importantly: as-Sahaah of al-Jowharee (5/1798 under laam-yaa-haa).
The bottom line: The phrase “yaa Allaah” ( يا ألله ) used to call upon Allaah is correct and in no way problematic, as it is a phrase used in an authentic supplication from the Sunnah.
Please make a note of this if you learned this mistake from me, and help me to correct it by informing anyone you know who may have heard it from me as well, and may Allaah reward you.
*Special thanks to my brother, Naveed Khawaja (may Allaah bless him and his family), for sending me the hadeeth today.