Welcome to the first of a series of podcasts by Abu Abdissalam. You can send questions here.
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In this podcast, the following questions are answered:
1. We bought our house with a mortgage with interest. Now we have paid off the mortgage and want to repent, can we live in the house or must we get rid of it?
2. I want to marry my cousin but it turns out that I have been breast fed by her mother. We tried to find out but no-one knows how many times – my aunty said that it was a long time ago and she doesn’t remember. Can I marry her?
3. My father died and left a lot of money in the bank and it accrued interest from the bank before he died. Do I have to throw away the interest or can I take that?
4. How do I repent from backbiting?
Q/ What is the ruling on alcohol based perfumes?
A/ Bismillah wa ‘l-hamdu lillah:
The scholars are of two opinions with regards to alcohol based perfumes and the like. Is it permissible to use alcohols for other than getting intoxicated? Are they najis (impure, filthy) or not?
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Regarding music, below are some random thoughts and points:
1) Music is clearly haram by the Qur’an, Sunnah and consensus of the early Muslim scholars:
a) Qur’an
“Do you marvel at this statement, and laugh and do not weep, while you saamidoon? Rather, prostrate before Allah and worship Him [alone].” Al-Najm (59-62)
Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the word ’saamidoon’ in this verse is talking about the mushrikin who would sing and play music loudly whenever they heard the recitation of the Qur’an so they could drown out the sound so others would not hear verses of the Qur’an.
“And there are among men those who purchase idle talk in order to mislead others from Allah’s path without knowledge, and who throw ridicule upon it. For such there will be a humiliating punishment.” Luqman (6)
Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the phrase “Lahw al-hadith” as “Huwa al-ginaa wa ashbahuhu” (it is music and the like). Hasan Basri rahimahullah, who died in 110AH, said that this ayah was revealed about music and the flute. In fact, the great scholar Mak-hul said, “Because of this ayah, I will not read the Salah al-Janazah over the one who buys a singing girl to sing and amuse him and continues this till he dies.”
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Bismillah wallahu Akbar
Here are a few brief points regarding the issue of halal meat. These are just random thoughts and issues in response to a few questions related to this topic and are not in any particular order.
1) Islam is built on ease. This is something that Allah likes – he does not like hardship. Allah says:
“Allah likes (yureed) for you ease and does not like (laa yureed) hardship for you”
It is also the sunnah of the Prophet sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam who, as stated in the hadith, “was not given the choice between two matters except that he took the easiest of the two as long as it was not a sin.”
2) This is a very emotional issue – the issue of halal meat as well as the issue of the meat from the British people (ahl al kitab?). Continue Reading »
A number of questions have come regarding what dress we should wear as Muslims in Western countries. Here are some brief and random thoughts on the issue:
1) Regarding the dress issue for brothers: this should not be a point of conflict among ourselves and should certainly not be a cause of splitting.
2) As Muslims, we have guidelines for dress code, but not a ‘uniform’ as such. The general rule is that everything that is worn is allowed, unless specifically prohibited by a text from the Qur’an or Sunnah. Also, some types of clothing are favoured more than others by the Shari’ah.
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