Question Summary:
Q : I understand that there is a hadith that says eating haraam means ibaadat will not be accepted for 40 days. i understand that the ibaadat is accepted but the noor and barkat will be accepted. Does this mean that there is no reward for it?

Question Detail:

I understand that there is a hadith that says eating haraam means ibaadat will not be accepted for 40 days - although from reading your previous fatwa, i understand that the ibaadat is accepted but the noor and barkat will be accepted. Does this mean that there is no reward for it?

Also, is doing something haraam (i.e. zina, masturbation) the same as eating haraam? In the sense that, if someone masturbates/commits zina (alhumdullillah i have stopped) then are his duas not accepted for 40 days, as such with when one eats haraam?

May Allah s.w.t grant your academy nourishment and make it a means of spreading hidayat throughout the four corners of the world. Ameen

Answer :

Assalāmu `alaikum Warahmatullāhi Wabrakatuh,
 
It maybe easier for you to understand your query with an example of the human body. In order for the body to be healthy and active, it must have a balanced diet. If one has cold in the body, the body reacts negatively through sneezing, running nose, pains and aches. Such a body requires heat to maintain a balance and good health.
If the person having cold in his body continues the intake of cold items, for example ice etc., his health will deteriorate, in spite of him having some healthy foods. Similarly, if one does good deeds that generates the nūr of Imān in him, if he continues with such good deeds and many more good deeds, he will clearly receive the nūr of Imān and closeness to Allah. Taking one vitamin tablet is not enough for one to be active and healthy. It is only after a few doses of such tablets that one feels the difference.
While doing some good deeds, if a person also commits sins, he washes away the effect of the good deeds. The Nūr and light of the good deeds are contaminated with the evil and are suppressed.
What happens if one eats healthy foods and on top of that takes a poisonous tablet?
Nevertheless, good deeds are not in vain, never!
Allah Ta’ala says,
...فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ
...Verily, Allah does not destroy the rewards of those who do good.
(Qurān 11:115)
You can see the effect of your good deeds which are covered and suppressed with the darkness of sins.
Just as one needs to detoxify from poison and toxic in the body to see the effect of good and healthy foods, so too a sinful person needs to detocify from sinful acts to see the hidden effects of his salah, tilawah and charity.
The Nūr of these acts just need to surface. The detoxification of sins is through Taubah and Istighfār. Repent for ones sins and make firm intention never to commit the poison of sinful acts. It is then one will see the nūr of ones good deeds and feel the halawat (sweetness) of Iman.
 
And Allah Ta'āla Knows Best,
 
Muftī Ebrahim Desai
Daruliftaa
35 Candella Rd, Durban, South Africa
www.daruliftaa.net