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Ask About Islam (Q & A Session)

Waleed Najmeddine
20 February, 2017

Asalamu Alaikum Brothers & Sisters,

Join us as Brother Waleed Ahmed Najmeddine answers your question about Islam. Brother Waleed will be available live to reply to general questions about Islam, including but not limited to interfaith issues, misconceptions, and misinterpretations of Islamic concepts.

Our Live Session will be Friday, Feb 24, 2017, at 5:00 -7:00 AM Makkah/2:00-4:00 AM GMT/Thursday, Feb 23, 2017 9:00-11:00 PM in New York/ 7:00-9:00 PM Alberta, Canada

Can’t make it to the session? Please do not hesitate to send us your questions at the following email address: [email protected]

Friday, Feb. 24, 2017 | 05:00 - 07:00 GMT

Session is over.

Asallamualaykum, Thank you for offering this session, brother. I am wondering why some people seem to have more tests in life than others? Like some people who are born rich and never work very hard and are good looking and smart, etc., have so much more that people who don’t have those advantages. And then some people just go through more hardship than others, like the Syrians for example, what they are going through is so hard. Why is there an unfair distribution of tests and advantages? I believe in Allah and everything, I just don’t get this. If we are tested shouldn’t everyone be tested the same?



Beautiful question. This is something I reflect upon very often. We must be careful, however, that we do not overstep our bounds when questioning God’s Will.

One of the pillars of faith in Islam is to believe in God’s Divine Decree, good or bad. Sometimes we see something as being bad, but in reality, there is much good in it. Sometimes we see something as good, but there is much harm in it.

“Fighting is ordained for you, even though it be hateful to you; but it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know.” (Qur’an 2:216)

In this beautiful verse, the example of fighting, war, battle is used. Most people despise fighting, hurting others, or worse, killing a human being. In some cases, unfortunately, it cannot be avoided. If one is under attack and fighting cannot be avoided, then to preserve our own lives we may have to seriously hurt or kill someone. We will never understand the big picture as God sees it. He has a plan for humanity, the earth, and the whole universe, and His Will will be done. We are not in a position to criticize Him or challenge His reasoning for what we see happening to innocent people. We must trust that God’s promise is true:

“Do you think that you could enter paradise without having suffered like those [believers] who passed away before you? Misfortune and hardship befell them, and so shaken were they that the prophet, and the believers with him, would exclaim, “When will God’s Help come?” Truly, God’s Help is [always] near!” (Qur’an 2:214)

“Does mankind think that they will be left to say, “We believe”, and they will not be tested? Indeed, We did test those before them, and God will certainly distinguish those who prove themselves true, and most certainly will He distinguish those who are lying.” (Qur’an 29:2-3)

As Muslims, we do not see death as a disaster in itself. God created us and we will certainly die. To Him we belong, and to Him we shall return. We have no say in the matter. What we do with the time we have is what matters most. None of us knows how much time we actually have, so we must not let a day go by without accomplishing something good, for ourselves, or for others, believers, or non-believers. No soul will be wronged by God:

“God does not burden any soul with more than it is able to bear: in its favor shall be whatever good it does, and against it whatever evil it does. O our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget or unwittingly do wrong! “O our Lord! Lay not upon us a burden such as you laid upon those before us! O our Lord! Make us not bear burdens which we have no strength to bear! And remove our sins, and grant us forgiveness, and bestow Your Mercy upon us! You are our Lord Supreme: help us, then, against people who deny the truth!” Qur’an 2:286

We are confident in God’s Promise that goodness will be rewarded beyond anything we can possibly imagine or deserve. But evil will also be punished, again beyond what we can imagine, but surely deserved. Those who appear to us to be living the good life free of problems or worries are not necessarily in that situation because God loves them. Do not mistake worldly success and pleasure as always a sign of God’s Love or reward. It may well be the exact opposite; allowing these people to have whatever they please now, and in the end, have earned nothing from God’s Mercy on the Day of Judgment. This does not mean that there is no good in them. There are many wealthy, kind hearted, people of faith in the world, but their wealth does not make them better than anyone unless their good deeds accompany it.

I hope this has been helpful to you. May God grant us patience and strengthened faith in times of difficulty, and appreciation of His Bounties during times of ease.

Salam.

I am a Muslim and a huge comic book collector. My uncle had a very big collection of old comics that he gave me. I think it might be worth a lot of money, but is it a sin to make money off of things with drawings on it, like Tasweer? Also is it wrong to collect them?



Thank you for your question. It is a common concern among Muslims that art work containing human or animal figures may be crossing the line of permissibility. One of the sources of this concern derives from some hadiths of Prophet Muhammad:

It was narrated by Aisha (the wife of the Prophet): “Um Habiba and Um Salama mentioned a church they had seen in Ethiopia in which there were pictures. They told the Prophet about it, on which he said, ‘If any religious man dies amongst those people they would build a place of worship at his grave and make these pictures in it. They will be the worst creature in the sight of God on the Day of Resurrection.'”

It was narrated by Abdullah bin ‘Umar that God’s Apostle said, “Those who make these pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to them. ‘Make alive what you have created.'”

There are different opinions among scholars of Islam regarding the creation of images. Some say that drawings are permissible for educational purposes or for engaging children. Others say that photographs are haram and accept no types of images in their homes. As a rule, I think it is fine to be conservative about it, but as we all know, there is no limit to the types and numbers of images that we see everyday in the world around us. We would be very hard pressed to avoid them all. Perhaps it would be reasonable to avoid the creation, sale, distribution, sharing, etc. of those images that are clearly depicting nudity, partial or whole body, as they are provocative and depict human beings as primarily sexual objects. Quite often, comic books, especially superhero type comics, are of exaggerated physical features that nobody could possess. They paint an ideal that is not based in reality, and put a focus on the physical appearance of a person rather than their character and moral make-up.

Human beings are not primarily physical and sexual. We are primarily spiritual and should not allow anyone to convince us otherwise. No doubt, we have physical bodies that we should not deprive of attention and enjoyment. However, we cannot allow our bodies, or private parts, to do our thinking for us, or to determine what is right and wrong. With God’s Guidance and Help, we take ourselves from the lowest of the low, to becoming the greatest people anyone could ever hope to know. Greatness has very little to do with physical abilities or appearance, and much more to do with our inner qualities: generosity, mercy, forgiveness, patience, etc. These are qualities that can be found in any human being of any size, shape, or degree of physical beauty or even lack of beauty.

I often say that physical beauty disappears very quickly if we learn that it is only skin deep. Once a person’s true character is revealed, usually during difficult times, many “beautiful” people become less attractive to us. That is because, deep down, we value people’s character and high morals over their physical appearance. 

Generally, the problem with paintings, drawings, pictures, etc. is the intention of the artist. If they are trying to imitate God’s creation with images, then it is a vain pursuit. Nobody can imitate God’s creation. To truly create a living thing as God has done, one would be required to create from nothing. As humans living on the earth, we are “creating” things from materials that already exist. It is impossible for us to repeat what God has done. If an artist’s intention is to create things without seeking praise from others, or to serve some sense of self pride, then perhaps there is not harm in there works. Unfortunately, I am not highly trained in these matters, so the best I can say is that it would be best to consult with a trained Imam with experience in these matters. Ultimately, God knows best.

I hope this has been helpful to you. May God protect us from our own short-sightedness and guide us all to what pleases Him. Ameen.

Salam.

Why don’t Muslim women speak to men? I am a non-Muslim man and the other day I asked a Muslim women (she had a scarf on) a question about the price of something, and she didn’t answer me. Is this because of me or because of Islam or both? Thank you for clearing this confusion for me. I don’t want to be rude to Muslim women or Muslims in general. I just thought it was weird and was wondering the reason.



Thank you for your question. Interactions between men and women in Islam are generally conservative, however, there is no prohibition on a “strange” man talking to a Muslim woman. By “strange”, I mean that this person is not a direct relative such as her father, brother, paternal/maternal uncle, husband, son, etc. There is no harm in a Muslim woman talking to people in an open environment such as a market, or shopping center. I’m not sure why this lady did not answer your question. If she was employed at the place where you were asking about the price of an item, it might have been a good idea after verifying that she is an employee or shop owner, not just another customer, to make eye contact first. If she still did not answer, you might have spoken to the owner. I don’t think this is very good business practice.

It is part of Islamic conduct between men and women who are “strange” to each other that they not put themselves in a situation where they are in a room alone together. Part of this is based on a hadith, or saying, of Prophet Muhammad:

“No man is alone with a non-mahram (strange) woman but Satan is the third one present with them.” (Hadith Narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 2165; classed as saheeh (authentic) by al-Albaani, 1758)

For this reason, most devout Muslim men and women will try their best to avoid being left alone in a room. Even if nothing inappropriate happens between them, people like to talk. It is not worth spoiling one’s reputation over nothing, so devout Muslims attempt to close the doors that lead to evil, harm, shame, etc. rather than try to rectify mistakes or dispel rumors of those who like to engage in gossip.

I hope this has been helpful to you. Please keep in touch.

Salam (Peace).

 

I am in the university, and I have come across many different kinds of people. I try to meet as many different people as I can and also be active in the Muslim Student Association, Alhemdolillah. I have met a few Iranians who claim that they are atheist Muslims. But this is very confusing for me. I thought you had to believe in God to be a Muslim. So, how can one call themselves a Muslim and an atheist at the same time? Is there something I am missing? Thank you for your time in clearing up my confusion.



Thank you for your question. I would agree with you that their claim to being “atheist Muslims” is quite confusing. Generally, an atheist is one who does not believe in the existence of God or any gods. Any scholar of Islam would be able to say with great confidence that the two concepts cannot coexist in one person’s heart or mind. One is either an atheist, or believes in the existence of God, or some type of deity. There are many verses in the Qur’an that proclaim the existence of God:

“And your God is one God: there is no deity except Him, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace” (Qur’an  2:163)

“Such is God, your Sustainer: there is no deity except Him, the Creator of everything: worship, then, Him alone -for it is He who has everything in His care.” (Qur’an 6:102)

A very famous hadith outlines the fundamental beliefs and practices of Muslims:

Umar ibn al-Khattab, may God be pleased with him, said: “One day when we were with God’s messenger, a man with very white clothing and very black hair came up to us. No mark of travel was visible on him, and none of us recognized him. Sitting down before the Prophet, leaning his knees against his, and placing his hands on his thighs, he said, “Tell me, Muhammad, about Islam.”

He replied, ‘Islam means that you should bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is God’s messenger, that you should perform the ritual prayer, pay the poor’s due, fast during Ramadan, and make the pilgrimage to the House (Ka’ba) if you are able to go there.” The man said, “You have spoken the truth.” We were surprised at his questioning him and then declaring that he had spoken the truth. He said, “Now tell me about Iman (Faith).” He replied, “Iman means that you have faith in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and that you have faith in Divine Decree, both its good and its evil.” Remarking that he had spoken the truth, he then said, “Now tell me about Ihsan (Excellence).” He replied, “Ihsan means that you should worship God as if you see Him, for even if you do not see Him, He sees you.”

Then the man said, “Tell me about the Hour” The Prophet replied, “About that he who is questioned knows no more than the questioner.” The man said, “Then tell me about its signs.”

He said, “The slave girl will give birth to her mistress, and you will see the barefoot, the naked, the destitute, and the shepherds vying with each other in constructing tall buildings.” Then the man went away. After I had waited for a long time, the Prophet said to me, “Do you know who the questioner was, ‘Umar?” I replied, “God and His messenger know best.” He said, “He was (Angel) Gabriel. He came to teach you your religion.”

From this hadith we understand that Muslims have 6 pillars of belief, and 5 pillars of faith that put the beliefs into practice in our lives. Belief in God, angels, God’s books or revelations, messengers and prophets, the Day of Judgment, and acceptance of God’s Divine Decree in all matters, whether we see them as good for us or bad. Putting these beliefs in our daily practice is the proof of our faith in God. The first and most important action is to testify upon entering Islam, and repeatedly throughout our lives, that there is no god except God, and Muhammad is His Messenger. Daily prayer, regular charity, fasting Ramadan, and visiting The House of God in Mecca at least once in our lives, are the other main proofs of our Submission or Islam.

Leaving one of these beliefs means to leave Islam. We cannot claim to be Muslims if we do not believe in angels, for example. Surely then, denying the existence of God would take us out of the fold of Islam. Everything is built on the belief in the One God.

I hope this has been helpful to you. May God guide us all to what pleases Him.

Salam.

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