Topics

16

General Discussions / interactions between jinns and humans

« on: June 14, 2013, 12:29:42 PM »

salam brother,

1.is interaction between jinns and humans haram?

2. if so, prophet Solomon used to interact with them. was He an exception?

3. I heard that magic or occult arts refer to this interaction between jinns and mankind? so isn't practicing withcraft haram?

thank you.

17

General Discussions / some questions regarding beliefs and practices

« on: June 14, 2013, 03:46:54 AM »

salam brother Joseph,

I would like to begin by apologizing because of repeating two of my questions that I asked before but did not get  answers yet.  I am asking these questions again because I need the answers to them so that I can decide what I should do from a Quran's perspective.

       After reading your articles and your posts, I have learnt that the Quran provides a law and an open way for us and the people of the book.

You also said that the Quran asks the people of the book to consider it and accept it as truth. From your reply to my question, I understood that we are to believe that aspects of truth is present in the Bible but we are not to use it for extracting and formulating religious law.

You also said that the Bible was revealed as a source of law for the children of Israel.

1. But is the Bible (only) supposed to remain the source of law for the children of Israel till the day of reckoning even after the Quran is revealed?

2. The Quran is revealed as a message for all of Alaameen, doesn't that include people of the book?

3. if not, then how is the Quran a guidance for all of Alameen?

4. If a person( christian or jew) from the people of the book accepts the Quran as truth, can he/she then still follow only the laws present in the Bible? or in this case should he/she follow both the laws in the Quran and the Bible ( Bible + Quran)?

5. is it enough for them to just believe in the veracity of the message of the Quran and follow only the Bible just like we are asked to recognize truth in the Bible but follow the laws in the Quran?

        I read your very informative article on riba. Your approach is different than traditionalista, you rightly consider the nature of paper money and say that if the amount of interest charged is equal to the time dependant increase in the certain amount of money then its ok. But calculating such a rate of interest that would yield the time dependent increased amount of money is not possible. As an economics student i can tell this because we are taught that due to the presence of black markets, impossibility of accruing perfect information regarding monetary transactions and demand and supply of money in an economy it is impossible to calculate such an interest rate. So non islamic banks cant charge that rate. So they charge a rate that they fix basing on assumptions and speculative calculations.

The rate of interest these institutions charge yield an amount of money that reflects the time dependent increase in money but the amount is not exactly equal to it. The interest amount of money can be slightly more or less than the time dependent increased amount.

6. Do you think then working in such institutions is haram and so is keeping money in their savings accounts? can I work in  a bank and have a savings account in traditional banks?

         In my country, after the death of a person, people gather on the third day( called milad) and the 40 th day (called challisa) to recite the quran, some prayers, surah yaseen 40 times etc for the peace of the soul of the dead person.

7. is this practice sanctioned by the quran?

8. how can the recitation of these help the dead person? are doing these things at all quranic or just a traditional practice not sanctioned by the quran?

9.and also women are not allowed to accompany the body to the burial site. this is thought to be forbidden?

10.does the quran forbid women from attending janaza prayers and going to the burial site?

11.also people (men and women) in my country visit the grave and read surahs for the peace of the dead person's soul. how quranic is this practice?

thank you so much for all the trouble.

18

General Discussions / changing the creation of Allah

« on: May 17, 2013, 02:03:29 PM »

Salamun Alaikum,

I have read an ayat in the Quran which says that the Iblis will order humans to change the creation of Allah. Do you think gender change operation falls under the ambit of this ayat?

Please shed some light on the following three scenarios and tell me whether my believes are justified in the light of the glorious Quran:

1. A transgendered person, who believes that they are born with a fully functioning body of a person of the opposite gender i.e a woman who believes she is actually a man who is born with the body of a female. Is the operation allowed in this situation?

I believe they receive some kind of waswasa or they might actually have such feelings or inclination but they should see this as a test from Allah and persevere and not go for the operation.

2. a hermoaphrodite person, these people in my country are constantly ridiculed and harassed for their physical deformities. If such a person can get a fully functioning male/female body after the operation and lead a normal life, I believe the gender change operation is allowed for them.

Before the advent of this technology they were thought to be a test for themselves and everyone around them but when I see the condition of such people in my country my eyes fill up with tears. Do you think its more humane and Allah, the most merciful, would not penalize them for taking a shot at living a normal life by undergoing such operations?

3. A homosexual person, i.e. a man who wants to undergo this procedure to become a woman  so that he can marry a man afterwards, is it allowed then? The Quran clearly forbids homosexual relationships, but do you think even after the operation their relationship would be considered homosexual as the new woman was actually born a male? I believe it is not allowed and they should see their inclinations as a test for them and persevere and not go for such an operation.

Thank you.

19

General Discussions / non islamic financial institutions

« on: May 17, 2013, 11:46:11 AM »

Salamun alaikum brother,
 I read your very informative article on riba. Your approach is different than traditionalista, you rightly consider the nature of paper money and say that if the amount of interest charged is equal to the time dependant increase in the certain amount of money then its ok. But calculating such a rate of interest that would yield the time dependent increased amount of money is not possible. As an economics student i can tell this because we are taught that due to the presence of black markets, impossibility of accruing perfect information regarding monetary transactions and demand and supply of money in an economy it is impossible to calculate such an interest rate. So non islamic banks cant charge that rate. So they charge a rate that they fix basing on assumptions and speculative calculations.
Do you think then working in such institutions is haram and so is keeping money in their savings accounts?

Thank you

20

Discussions / questions regarding Bible both OT and NT and the Quran

« on: May 16, 2013, 08:19:15 PM »

Salamun Alaikum brother,
I would like to begin by thanking you for kindly answering my queries. Your answers were very helpful.
After reading your relevant articles some questions arose in my mind. I am sharing them with you.
I learnt from your article that the Quran confirmed the scripture(Bible..OT and NT) that was between the hands of the Arab Christians and Jews of that time. I want to know whether we as muslims can find religiously binding laws for us in the Quran? I mean you have previously shown from the Quran that the Quran does not  authorize Ahadith corpus as a sourse for religiously binding laws. Can you please tell me whether the Quran authorises the current Bible for muslims to follow laws present in the current Bible? If the Bible both OT and NT is religiously binding for muslims which version or translation do you recommend?

Thank you so much

21

General Discussions / questions on permissibility of certain kinds of food

« on: April 28, 2013, 12:25:15 AM »

Salam brother,

hope you are doing well. I would be very grateful if you could answer the following questions:

1) are chocolates like kitkat, sneakers, mars, twix halal?

2) is using soya sauce for cooking halal? Or using cooking wine or red wine vinegar halal?

3) is gelatin halal? Because i read somewhere that it is haram and so gummy bears and other sweets that contain them are haram?

4) can we eat out at KFC or macdonalds or any other resturants? I heard that we are not allowed.

Thank you so much
Nura

22

General Discussions / questions regarding the hereafter

« on: April 28, 2013, 12:20:35 AM »

Salam brother Joseph,

Hope you are well. I have some questions that bother me a lot and it would be very helpful and kind of you if you could take some time out of your busy schedule and shed some light on them from the quran's perspective.

1.is the highest rank in heaven only attainable by prophet Muhammad? People talk about a rank called al-wasila that can be attainable by only one person. is it true? Can only one person attain the highest rank in heaven?

2. If the highest rank in heaven can be attainable by many, is it only attainable by prophets?

3. Can normal men and women attain the highest rank in heaven and can be brought nearest to Allah? can a normal human like me strive for such a lofty goal? Or is it futile or non-sensical for me to strive for it?

4. I have read that, we are in this world to try and come nearest to Allah, is that possible for normal humans? I feel deep in my heart that it is possible  if we work really hard.

Eagerly waiting for your answer.

Thank You,
Nura