Religion

Q: Does my father know when I visit his grave; does his soul return to his grave when one goes to visit him? A: The answer to this question is yes; for as we can rightly conclude from the authentic sources of Islam, your father can know when you visit him; he will also be able to hear and return your greeting, besides benefiting from your du’as and good deeds on his behalf. To further clarify the issue: This question belongs to an area or realm which is beyond the confines of logic, reason or experimentation: It belongs exclusively to the area of revelation. As far as we can know from the revelation, it is clear that those who are buried in the grave not only know their visitors, if they had known them prior to their death, but also return their greetings. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has left us clear instructions to visit the graves of our relatives and friends, to greet them and to offer prayers for them. This is lest we forget them after their death; through frequent visits to their graves we renew our relationship with them, invoke Allah’s mercy upon them, besides reminding…

Q: When a person converts to Islam his bad deeds are forgiven by Allah. Does this mean that his debts to people are also forgiven? A: It is not true to say that by becoming a Muslim a person’s debts that he owes to others are forgiven. It is only applicable to sins involving the violations of the rights of Allah. Furthermore, the forgiveness of sins is only for those who became Muslims and have followed up bad deeds with good deeds in Islam. If a person simply converts to Islam, it does not automatically expiate his past sins–especially if does not remain true to the pledge he has made with Allah by embracing Islam. As for sins involving the rights of humans, they cannot be simply wiped out by Islam. Debts we owe others belong to this category; so it is imperative that he pays those he owes unless they have forgiven him. Q: Is visiting the graveyard on Eid-ul-Fitr considered Bid’ah or Sunnah? A: Visiting graves is a great sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him; there is no fixed time limit for it, one is free to do so anytime as long as it is done…

Q: Is it disrespectful to exercise on machines while listening to Qur’an instead of music? A: Although we should treat the Qur’an, the Mighty Revelation of Allah, with utmost respect by giving full attention to it while reciting or listening to it, there is nothing wrong for us in listening to it while doing chores that does not require full attention; for the rule of the Shari’ah is that if we cannot have something in its entirety by fulfilling all of its requirements, it does not mean that we should leave it altogether; so even though you are not able to pay full attention to the Qur’an, still you should not be depriving yourself of whatever benefits you can possibly obtain from reading or listening to it in your given circumstance or situation in life. Moreover, it is definitely far better than listening to music or other mundane activities. Nay, by consistently listening to the Quran in this way you certainly stand to gain tremendous spiritual and moral benefits. The same rule applies to listening to the Qur’an or while doing chores at work in the kitchen, etc. Insha Allah, as many people would vouch for it that such an…

Q: I understand that women are allowed to remove facial hair if it makes them look like a male in any way, but are they allowed to remove hair from their arms and legs? If they are allowed to remove hair form arms and legs are they allowed to use a blade?   A: Islam generally encourages Muslims to appear neat, tidy and well groomed; this applies equally to males and females. Greater emphasis in this matter, however, has been placed on married couples more than others; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) set the perfect role model for all married couples when he said, “I prepare myself for my spouse, and she prepares herself for me!” The reason for this is not hard to comprehend, as such appearance may go a long away in contributing towards marital stability and fulfillment as the spouses are supposed to serve as garments of protection for one another. In keeping with the above spirit, we find the Islamic sources laying greater stress in recommending wives to appear attractive before their spouses. The only limitation applicable here is resorting to practices that may amount to direct altering and tampering with Allah’s creation, for…

Q: I have a question related to requirements for a prayer space. At some schools, they are not able to offer students a Musalla only for Muslims, but instead want to provide an interfaith prayer room, which means other religious groups could use it during the day. What requirements should we have for such an arrangement? A: Prayer requirements are very simple and precise. The place we pray in should be clean and should not be contaminated by Najasah or filth. It should be free of idols and statues. If we have a choice, we should ask for empty room which can be consecrated as a Musalla. If any of these conditions cannot be met, then the principle of jurisprudence “Al-Mash`qa Tajleb At-tayseer” or ‘whenever there is hardship the law is relaxed’ is applied.  If, therefore, the only room available for prayers is an inter-faith hall where idols and statues are found, we can pray there provided we cover them up.  This is the least we could do. Prayer is fine, and Allah will take us only to ask if we violate the laws intentionally. We are required only to fear Allah to the best of our ability.  In conclusion,…

A billion and a half Muslims around the world have ushered in the holy month of Ramadan during which they atone for their sins and, through fasting, grow closer to their god. Ramadan is the ninth month of the “Hiijri” or lunar, calendar, and it was during this month that the holy Quran was revealed to the prophet Muhammad (PBUH.) “Sawm”, or fasting, during  Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam along with the belief in Allah, daily prayers, alms giving (charity) and a once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). As such, its observance is obligatory for all able Muslims. During this month they must refrain from food, drink, sex and smoking from dawn until dusk. They must fast not only from food but also mischief. It is a month in which they strive to grow closer to Allah by following his commands and distancing themselves from that which is prohibited. The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) assured that “whoever fasts during Ramadan out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah’s rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven.” “Iftar” is the meal Muslims eat at sunset to break the day-long fast. It is awaited with great anticipation and…

Q: If I have my period, is it possible to read the Qur’an without touching the Qur’an? A: Scholars and jurists of Islam have been divided in their opinion about the issue whether women who are menstruating are allowed to read the Qur’an or not.  The generally accepted view among them is that women are not allowed to read the Qur’an while menstruating. Among other things, they have based this ruling on a report attributed to the Prophet, peace be upon him, which states, “Neither those who are sexually defiled nor those who are menstruating shall read the Qur’an.”  A group of scholars belonging to Maliki, Shafi and Hanbali schools, and others, however, have rejected the above position. As has been pointed out by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah, there is nothing wrong for women from reading the Qur’an either from their heart or from mushaf itself, should they find it necessary to do so.  Even some of those scholars who are generally in favour of disallowing menstruating women from reading the Qur’an from mushaf have considered it permissible for them to do so if they are teachers or students or they are afraid of forgetting what they have memorized.  Having cited…

Q: We are a couple trying to have a baby for the last years and Allah did not allow it to happen yet. We have an option to do an In vitro fertilization. We have the money in a line of credit. Can we use this money even though we have a home mortgage and a credit card to pay every month? We would like to know what Islam say about it. Note that we are making our payments every month without any problems. A: If the process you have mentioned involves interest then the transaction is considered as haraam (unlawful), for interest is haraam. If, however, by paying your installments every month when they are due, you can avoid paying the interest, then there is nothing wrong with that. For in that case, it is not at all different from your credit card purchases; which may or may not involve interest, depending on whether you pay it of in full when it is due or you choose to pay it with interest. If, therefore, your payments involve interest it is considered as haraam. Q: My wife miscarried at the end of third month of gestation. Sonographic test in the th…

Q: My wife breastfeeds our son now for almost years, he finds it difficult to drink from a cup, he prefers the breast. Is it allowed to feed him more than two years in this situation? It’s very hard for him and us to stop the breastfeeding now. We don’t have plans to have another baby also in this moment. A: A mother in Islam is expected to provide nurturing care and love for her children; breast feeding is undoubtedly one of the best ways of providing such care. Breast-milk has been specifically created by Allah solely to provide all the necessary nutrients and immunity so vital for the development of the child in its formative years, and as such there is no substitute for it. So you are to be commended for your zeal to provide the loving care for your child. It is, therefore, not at all surprising when Allah states in the Qur’an, “Mothers shall give such to their children for two whole years, for those who wish the suckling to be completed……if after consultation, they choose by mutual agreement to wean the child, it is no offence for them….” (Qur’an: 2: 233).  Scholars have deduced a…

This is the section where you, the reader gets to ask a Muslim scholar a question and if we think your question can benefit the community, we will feature it on this section. Question 1: Salaam Sheikh, I am going to Umrah InshaAllah next week. What is the minimum requirement to trim hair? Is it okay if I just trim hair evenly all over or does it HAVE to be 1/3 of my finger length? Answer 1: You have one of three options:   1. The first and the ideal one is to shave the head; you should do this if this is your first Umrah. 2. The second option is to get a haircut; it does not matter how short. 3. The third, which is the minimum requirement, according to some scholars is to take a few hair locks (at least three from any side).   Allah orders us in the Qur’an to come out of ihram (in the case of either hajj or umrah) after performing the essential rites by shaving our heads or cutting our hair short:  Allah says, “After that, let them bring to an end their state of consecration (ihram).”(Qur’an: 22:29)  “With your heads shaved…