Islamic Revival

Question: Are these Prophetic narrations about winter authentic? ‘Winter is the best season for the believer. Its nights are long for him to pray in, and its days are short for him to fast in.’   ‘Fasting in the winter is the easy prize.’ Answer: For the reasons set out below, it doesn’t appear that the cited traditions are judged to be authentic ( Ṣaḥīḥ ). Caution should always be exercised where statements are attributed to the Prophet peace be upon him, but do not carry mention of the narrator ( rāwi ), channel of transmission ( isnād ) or even on occasion, the collection from where it is taken from. Best practice dictates that these details should be mentioned. Where narrations are not authentic, that should also be highlighted, since it will allow the reader to know that it cannot be judged beyond reasonable doubt, as being an authentic statement of the Prophet peace be upon him. Reasoning The first narration is cited in as-Sunan al-Kubra of Bayhaqy,

Professor Muhammad Al Massari discusses in detail how it is completely prohibited for an Islamic Authority to spy on its citizens.

  The following is the translation of an Arabic article. The least that can be said regarding the statement that Islam was spread at the point of the sword is that it is a statement that holds no credibility, which the enemies of Islam have attempted to pass off to non-thinking Muslims. That is in the case where they claim that the objective of the fighting is to make the people enter Islam by way of force, even though the falseness of this view is as clear as the sun. That is because the Islam (i.e. entry into it) which Islam has demanded, is the Islam which the person embraces by way of complete conviction and wilful consent. As such, there is no worth or value in the presence of something called Islam (i.e. belief in it), unless it came via complete conviction. The fact that it is not Islaam (i.e. belief in it) unless it occurs via complete conviction, means that the matter of fighting for the purpose of making the people embrace Islam, represents an impossible matter. That is b