I ` ve been married to an American lady for the last 17 years: though she isn `t a Muslim we had a very good and stable life and we had a son (7 years) and daughter (10 years) who are being raised as Muslims. All of a sudden she decided to be a lesbian and she asked for divorce. Though I` m doing all what it take to gain the custody of my kids, I` m concerned that the outcome may be different then my wish. My question is: What is the Islamic ruling about lesbianism and also what is the Islamic ruling about having these two Muslim kids in the custody of a lesbain women?. I truly appreciate answering my question as soon as you can, because time is limited. Thank you very Much

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. May Allah make this hardship easy for you. Islam unequivocally forbids homosexuality in all types, forms and grades. In an Islamic legal system, the judge would have taken custody away from the mother and given it to the next in line. But, the question here is what you can do? Certainly, you should do your best fighting for the custody in the court. If the results are contrary to what you wish, then you try for shared custody or having them on the weekends…etc. when you have the kids even on weekends, you must invest in teaching them about Islam, raising their iman and getting them attached to the Muslim community. You will also have to inform them about the prohibition and impropriety of the homosexual lifestyle. May Allah protect your kids and those of all Muslims. Allah knows best.

Are men or women allowed to wear a wedding ring?

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. The wearing of a wedding ring is an innovation that was adopted by the Muslims in some countries. It has the following problems: 1. It does not have any basis in our religion, and the rituals of marriage are related to one's religion. 2. It is imitation of the non-Muslims in their ritualistic customs, and that is forbidden. 3. It may be gold and wearing gold is forbidden for men. 4. The fiancé may put it on his fiancée's hand, and that is forbidden for she is still a foreign woman to him. 5. It may be associated with the belief that it may bring about affection between the spouses and that is ignorance and misguidance and it is a form of shirk. It remains to be said that buying a ring for the spouse as part of the dowry is permissible, but should not look like the ring worn for the purpose of engagement or marriage. Also, wearing rings in general is allowable for both men and women. For those scholars who may disagree with this position, we have none but respect for them, but we reserve the right to differ and firmly uphold our position. Allah knows best.

Assalaamu `Alaikum. Bismillah ar Rahman ir Raheem. Some of my local masajid use calculations for establishing hijri months and declared Eid ul Adha to be Sunday, Dec. 31st. However, they recommended we fast on Friday and told us not to fast on Saturday. I thought the day of fasting is Day of Arafah and day not to fast is Eid day. Also, Day of Arafah is 9th Dhul Hijjah and the following day, the 10th, is Eid. How come they at the same time defended having Eid on Sunday? These contradictions are confusing and making matters very difficult for us. What/who should we be following on this matter? Should we be following the hajjis, the local sighting, or the calculations, or something else? For myself, I prayed Eid prayers on Saturday with the local masajid who were celebrating Eid on that day. Jazakum Allahu khairan.

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. These are some of the inevitable contradictions and confusions that emanate from the absolute following of the calculations in determining the times for the ritual feasts and acts of worship. The day of al-Nahr (slaughtering the sheep) is the supreme day of the pilgrimage, which is also known as the day of sacrifice (udhiya). This is the tenth of dhulhijjah, and the scholars maintain that the people must follow the pilgrims on that day. For the last 70 years or more, and until recently, the Muslims followed the pilgrims in determining the day of al-Nahr. If disagreeing may have any sense in Ramadan, then it is much less sensible in the feast of al-Adha, where the hearts of all Muslims are attached to the holy places and the rituals of hajj. I agree with what you did by praying with the congregation that prayed on Saturday. The people who supported the following of calculations did that with the good intentions of unifying the Muslims. It should be clear to them after trying that system that the use of calculations did not - and likely will not - unite the Muslims, but rather, added more disagreement by introducing an opinion of a very small minority that was abandoned by the ummah for fourteen centuries. It remains to be said that we should be all forces of unity in our respective communities and work to mend the gaps between the Muslims. I would not encourage any heated debates over these issues, and would recommend didactic and scholarly debates in an overall environment of compassion and mutual understanding of each other's motives. Allah knows best.

My parents raised me to be Muslim but then when I got to be a teenager I rebelled and chose not to. I got pregnant and was living with my then boyfriend for years before we finally got married. When we got married I still was not practicing and was married by a judge. My father however would not be a part of it unless my husband took the shahadah so he did that day. I didn't know about that until after the wedding and I was surprised that he did because I wasn't even thinking about practicing at that time. Since then we have had 2 more daughters for a total of 3 girls ages 12, 3, and 1. For about the past 2 -3 years I have slowly started working my way back towards living an Islamic life .I stopped drinking, smoking, and eating pork 3 years ago and I now pray and wear hijab and I am now struggling to do what a muslima should. I have been urging my husband to do the same but he still wants to drink and party with his family. (to them it is not normal if you don't drink) We have come to the point that we are selling our house for financial reasons and I have gotten a new place. I wont move in there until we close on the house in about 10-15 days. I have told my husband that I don't want him to come to the new house with us unless he is going to stop drinking and make a serious effort to study Islam and hopefully honestly mean it and become Muslim. So we can do this together. It has been very difficult for me trying to teach my daughters and he wants to have his family over every weekend hanging out. My husband is not against us practicing he just doesn't want to do it. He says he will try but he told me that a year and a half ago and did nothing but got worse. That is not good enough. First what I need to know is if I am doing this the right way. If I can preserve the family that would be best but I cant continue with him if he is not going to be Muslim. The children love their father and I don't want to take that away from them.

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. It is an enormous favor from God that he accepted you back, for many go astray and their punishment from God would be simply to lead them more astray. Allah must have seen some good in your heart. As for your marriage, it is invalid. You are not married in the sight of God if your husband is non-Muslim. The right thing to do now is to suspend your marital relationship until he becomes Muslim. I would be wiling to meet with both of you for further discussion and hopefully persuading him to sincerely accept Islam to salvage the family. If he became Muslim, then you can resume your life together. Drinking is an enormous sin, but it doesn't make a Muslim unbeliever, nor does partying. Let us first convince him of the creed of Islam, and work thereafter gradually on his character. Allah knows best.

Asalamu Alaikum wr wbr. I used to do some ma`siyah (a sin). Then I wanted to stop it. So, I made a nadr that if I do it again I will fast two consecutive months. And I did the sin again after the nadr, may Allah forgive me. What can I do about that Nadr that I made? It`s hard for me to fast two consecutive months. Jazaakallaah Kheir

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad. The person who can fulfill his nadhr (vow) must do so, and if s/he can't, then in the case of the nadhr of fasting. They may: 1. Feed a poor person for every day of fasting 2. Pay the expiation of the oath, which is “… for its expiation feed ten Masâkîn (poor persons), on a scale of the average of that with which you feed your own families, or clothe them or manumit a slave. But whosoever cannot afford (that), then he should fast for three days. That is the expiation for the oaths when you have sworn.” 3. Or, preferably do both. Remember to have sincere repentance from the sin and engage yourself in acts of obedience and Islamic activism. Such engagement will keep you away from all sins in-sha'-Allah. Allah knows best.