Religion

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…