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Please be notified that, 'Idribo hunna' in Surah Nisa (4.34) can mean to 'shun - turn away from' (not necessarily to beat) and does not necessarily require a preposition 'an' for this meaning to be operative. For more justifications & renditions, see here, http://quransmessage.com/articles/a%20deeper%20look%20at%20the%20word%20dharaba%20FM3.htm

Hajj practice from time to time was reformed after the revelation of various scriptures since Prophet Abraham. It is a practice initiated from the period of Prophet Abraham & still be continued. In mid era, This practice was abrogated or lost, but Quran reformed it & made it in place again.

So, is that Hajj practice still in situ or is it lost? Or only some remnants remained?

In this sense, Ancient Hajj practice is still in right place & performed by muslims from around the world.

Also, who's the addressee in 22:27 - and in the mankind, doesn't Jews & Christians included? If so, how do you reconcile with 5:48 that they're to keep their shariyat meaning keep their Hajj at original sanctuary?

In verse 22:27, Quran is addressing only disbelievers. A disbeliever can be from any religion who or what does not believe or support to oneness of GOD. Apart from that, any person who believes in oneness of GOD & follow the provided rules, is a believer. This system is referred to as 'Islam'. In this sense, Any jew or Christian, who believes in oneness of GOD & follows the guidance provided by GOD only, is a Muslim & can perform Hajj. In verse 5:48, Quran is talking about in general word, replacement of previous scriptures with the revelation of the Holy Quran. As I hope you are concerned about previous scriptures being distorted through the pass of many centuries by the human being & that is why GOD himself took responsibility to protect the Quran [15:9] so that noone or nothing can abrogate or distort it. This verse actually is not talking about avoiding jews or christians, but to avoid their distorted thoughts which are already in between them. This is why 'criterion' word is mentioned.

[do not devour your property among yourselves falsely,]

assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters

This topic has been bothering me for a long time. I asked similar questions before (sister Nura posted the link above). But still my heart feels dissatisfied. Because sometimes I have to use those pirated software somehow. Professors at university don't seem to care about these copyrights at all. Mostly they give us "pdf" documents of books (not available for free) to study. They give projects, homeworks from them and even they ask from them in quizzes / exams. Sometimes we have to use pirated software like "photoshop", "ms office" and such. Mostly we (students at university) don't have another choice because we need to do very specific calculations, projects and things using "certain" softwares for our thesis.

There are also tons of websites streaming new movies/tv series before they're out on the market to purchase. Most people watch them just because they are available online.

I'm really really confused about this.

"O you who believe! do not devour your property among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by your mutual consent; and do not kill your people; surely Allah is Merciful to you." (4:29)

" And do not swallow up your property among yourselves by false means, neither seek to gain access thereby to the judges, so that you may swallow up a part of the property of men wrongfully while you know." (2:188)

Please be notified that Microsoft or Adobe does know about copyright and allowed that in outside of USA as well as 3rd world. Sometimes some companies allow copyright in order to be popular in public. This news is classified directly. So don't worry about those products. In this case a good question can be asked. Why some softwares can be cracked and why some can not? I hope both billion dolar companies know how to secure access better than any.

A question remains in queue, if a product is not available in my country, then can I download them through torrent?

[add]

Thanks for the reply. I would like to add little more questions regarding situation here.

First, In my country piracy law doesn't exist. Secondly, as for video or audio materials, it can be copied easily and no license is included except some magical agreements of boundaries of showing the movies in public. As a matter of fact that, if you buy the movie & you can share it with friends (no matter how many), in general islamic sense except law, that doesn't go in sin. As for verse 2:177, I only download pirated movies for only myself. I dont even share to outsiders. Isnt the verse 2:177 belonged to them who actually initiate piracy for the purpose of spreading as I personally didn't buy the movies or make any promise at the time of buying? In software, companies say, you have to buy license in order to use the software. In that case, I don't even buy the software or make any promise of agreements at the time of buying, i only download them. Again promise responsibilities go to the host who cracks the software and spread. In these cases, am I myself doing the sin when I dont even resell these or spread these? Some say, owners don't get paid  his amount for my usage. Every movies at the time of releasing earn their profits in double when the movies are running on box office (please be notified that no piracy can be done during box office period) & every software owners got paid their amount by companies in first stage in order to business with the software, as well as companies profit double. So, am i as individual the responsible enough for payment issue?

Please answer these question in general sense,
1. Is it a sin to share a movie u bought with ur friends?
2. Is it a sin to photocopy a book for ur own benefit?
3. Is it a sin to just copy a thing when original is still available to the owner, which u are defining as theft?
4. Can you express suitable verse from quran about this issue?
5. Isnt it tantamount to sin when u download a material and sell it to market and profit from it? What would u call this act? Isnt this pure immoral act?
6. Does it change the owner of material for which copyright exist principally?
7. Did u copy homework of other class that doesnt belong to you or u didnt pay for it?
8. Is driving a car without license a sin?
9. Is it a sin to copy article from this forum?
As for livelihood, every software owner were paid before taking over the software by company. This is the primary rule of spreading software from its founder. Company is also have good benefits now a days. So ultimately rightful owner got paid in first session.

[Is using pirated software & watching pirated movies is tantamount to sin? Is it great sin or minor?]

Is using pirated software & watching pirated movies is tantamount to sin? Is it great sin or minor?

['farj']

A more literal understanding of the word 'farj' (plural furuj) in the expression 'lifurujihin hafizun' is a reference to the private parts of both males and females. It is a reference to the 'pudenda' (sex organ) which is considered indecent to expose. 

The argument here is that this is not merely a reference to sexual intercourse but to any sexual act.

The exception of wedlock is granted where one is not considered blameworthy (ghayru malumin) 23:6. However, whoever seeks beyond that has transgressed (ada) - 23:7

Please take my sincere apologies for quoting this post after a long times. I'm respectfully agreed with the upper arguments as i have done some little research on my own.  But only one question arises momentarily & need a suitable answer. If one is married and stay far away from spouse for some reasons or due to unavoidable circumstances, will it be sinful to masturbate thinking of own wife? Logically any sexual pleasures that come from wife is sanctioned. Is distance really a fact when the wife is not close for intimacy?

I think I have found a suitable answer which seems logical.

Can anyone recommend which Quran app is best in Android with translation?

salam everyone,

yes the ayah is "do not kill yourselves" and i personally think that it also includes killing oneself by committing suicide. When the order is "do not kill one another", "do not kill yourselves", i don't think we can say "hey it's forbidden to kill another human being but we are totally free to commit suicide." It is an act of killing after all. However Allah knows our mental condition, inner thoughts and emotions. He is the One to judge and He is the most merciful. He knows best.

Thanks, that helps

Suicide is expressly prohibited in verse 4:29 of the Quran.

But the verse is saying "do not kill yourselves". It means not to kill your people/closest person. Its not telling "dont not kill yourself".

What does the quran says about suicide? Can someone express verse from Quran?

['farj']

A more literal understanding of the word 'farj' (plural furuj) in the expression 'lifurujihin hafizun' is a reference to the private parts of both males and females. It is a reference to the 'pudenda' (sex organ) which is considered indecent to expose. 

The argument here is that this is not merely a reference to sexual intercourse but to any sexual act.

The exception of wedlock is granted where one is not considered blameworthy (ghayru malumin) 23:6. However, whoever seeks beyond that has transgressed (ada) - 23:7

Please take my sincere apologies for quoting this post after a long times. I'm respectfully agreed with the upper arguments as i have done some little research on my own.  But only one question arises momentarily & need a suitable answer. If one is married and stay far away from spouse for some reasons or due to unavoidable circumstances, will it be sinful to masturbate thinking of own wife? Logically any sexual pleasures that come from wife is sanctioned. Is distance really a fact when the wife is not close for intimacy?

Do I need consent from the first wife to do second marriage?

Quran for example is in Arabic so language is a context frame a dictionary is a tool in that sense hadeeths and any historical evidence are also required to understand Quran. Again that doesnt mean to take what hadeeth and historical context say as ultimate truth.

The Quran doesn't give religious authority to any other sources. Quran has its own directory to understand any of its verse & it seals outside sources to aid it. Hadith books can be used for additional aid to understand Quranic injunctions. But Quran also can be used only to get any religious explanations.

[intellect and common sense]

Salamun Alaikum,

In my view, number a is correct. Because Quran is not time-bound, Quran uses examples for proper realization of readers. In that sense, historical verses are included for pointing what really were happened & why. This doesn't mean you're gonna have to fight with sword to these days in a war. Quran instructed us to use our intellect and common sense to grasp the main theme, not robotic calculations or sentence to compare which word is used for how many times & for what purpose. This is the main problem of Quranists, they don't take Quran simply. Remember, Quran gives us only message, not grammar or calculations. Specially for grammar, outside sources are significant.