Salaam alaykum, I was wondering if Hookah or Sheesha is permissible?
The youth here are very much into it and I was looking for some advice from the basis of Quran and Sunnah. Any prompt help would be much appreciated (there is actually a party here tomorrow where the youth will be engaging in this and I was hoping you could provide an answer before that).
Jazak Allah khayr
Wa Salaam

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
Dear brother,
Smoking all kinds of tobacco in any form is forbidden (haram). This is for the consensus of sane humans on its harms and evils. The Messenger of Allah said:
“There should be neither harm nor reciprocation of harm.”
There used to be some controversy about its harms in the past, resulting in some earlier scholars (in the beginning of the twentieth century) hesitating to forbid it, but now, there is no more controversy amongst sane humans about its harms, and consequently, the ruling of its prohibition is established and confirmed.
It is also wasteful, and those who smoke waste their money on something that will bring disease and harm to their bodies. Allah said:
“إِنَّ الْمُبَذِّرِينَ كَانُواْ إِخْوَانَ الشَّيَاطِينِ وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِرَبِّهِ كَفُورًا “
“Surely the squanderers are the fellows of the Shaitans and the Shaitan is ever ungrateful to his Lord.” (al-Isra’ 17:27)
Allah knows best.

I have a question if anyone can tell me the answer and where I can find information about this in Quran or Sunnah. Is it true that we can ask the prophets or sahaba to make du'a for us when we are in need of something? Example: "Oh Mohammad ask Allah to keep me safe during my travel" or should we only make du'a to Allah SWT?

We can ask living righteous people to make du'a' for us, but we can't ask those who are deceased. When a drought took place during the time of Omar (may Allah be pleased with him), he asked al-'Abbas to make du'a' for them and the grave of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was only a few feet away from them.
There is no report from any of the sahaba indicating that they ever asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) after his death to make du'a' for them.
That is not to undermine the position of the Prophet, who is the greatest of Allah's creations, but rather to protect the purity of tawheed (monotheism) and remove all mediums between man and God.

A follow up question: How about Shuhada (martyrs) since they are alive according to the Quran and are for sure righteous? Also, the Quran tells us that they are alive but we don’t sense their presence? Shouldn’t we be able to ask them too?

The Prophets and the shuhada’ (martyrs) are alive in al-barzakh (the stage between this life and the day of resurrection) as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “The Prophets are alive and they pray in their graves.” (Narrated by al-Bayhaqi who authenticated it and it has some collateral reports in the two authentic collections)
That life in the grave, however, does not mean they didn’t die, but it is a special state in the grave; Allah said to Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): Verily, you (O Muhammad) will die, and verily, they (too) will die” [al-Zumar 39:30]
This means they die, but they have a different state in the grave, a state in which they are alive in the stage of barzakh, with a greater experience of the joys of this stage (for the believers) than the rest of us.
Based on that, you may not ask the shuhada’ for du’a’ either.
It is not only that, but you may not ask for du’a’ anyone that you can’t communicate with, so you may not ask your shaykh back home for du’a’ (unless you call him on the phone). You may ask the creatures for what they can do, and that is by consensus, but there are two conditions:
1- You should be able to communicate your request to them. If someone believes that the prophets can hear everything that takes place everywhere, then they should provide some proofs on that. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) lost his camel and the hypocrites said that he claims to be a prophet yet he doesn’t know where his camel is, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “some people say Muhammad claims… and by Allah I know not except what Allah teaches me.” There are exceptions for the Prophet including that Allah returns his soul to him to answer our salaam, but you don’t expand from the exceptions to encroach on the basic principal which is that the encompassing knowledge belongs to Allah.
2- The task should be possible for the individual. Thus, asking an ordinary man to cure you from a heart disease is a form of mythological mysticism that is not acceptable in Islam.
In other words, all people agree that if you ask your son to get a glass of water, this request is reasonable, within his capacity and is not haram or shirk, but if you claim that the prophets in their graves hear our requests for du’a’ made in our bedrooms, that would need some clear proofs.
Had requesting du’a’ from those who are in al-barzakh been allowable, we would have had hundreds of reports about the companions asking the Prophet for du’a’ after his death, but we don’t have any authentic reports in this regard. On the contrary we have Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) asking al-‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) for du’a’ while they were both a few feet away from the Prophet’s grave. The disbelievers said about the sahaba: "If it were a good thing, they would not have gone to it first, before us!" (al-Ahqaaf 46:11); we say: "If it were a good thing, they would have gone to it first, before us!"
You may add to this that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said to Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) when he sought his permission to go for ‘umrah: “Include us in your du’a’ and do not forget us my brother.” (reported by many including at-Tirmdhi who authenticated it). We know there are no reports of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) asking the previous prophets for their du’a’, not even Ibraheem (peace and blessings be upon him). There is no doubt that they are greater and closer to Allah than Omar (may Allah be pleased with him)
The intercession of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is granted to all Muslims who follow his path, obey and respect him and his sunnah and love him more than themselves and love and respect his family and companions. (may Allah make us amongst them)
Dear sister, speak to Allah directly; He is closer to you than all mediums as He said:
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.” ( al-Baqarah 2:186)
You may also take as waseelah (means of approach) your love for the Prophet, since that love is an action of yours and that you may use as waseelah as agreed upon by AhlusSunnah. So, you may say: “O Allah you know how much I love and follow your best of creation and last of messengers, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him); O Allah, for this love, grant me…”
Allah knows best.

Asalam-o-Alaikum, I want to ask you a question regarding wearing the clothes in the Muslim ladies gatherings.
I went to a wedding and I saw some sisters and girls wearing some clothes like sleeveless, some were wearing topless (dress started from the chest area till knees or feet).
No one was allow to use cell phone or take pictures or make movie for anyone or even for the bride other than the lady who was only allowed to make movie only for bride and pictures for her and her sisters and friends who want to take pictures with bride. No one else was allowed to do that. Also for the lady who was allowed she was not allowed to make movie or pictures for the ladies who came to join the wedding. The camera was only on the bride for a short period.
All the ladies knew each other in the gathering. The ladies who organized the wedding were strict about the movie and pictures.
So can you tell me that is it allow to wear the clothes which are topless or sleeveless or clothes which were full but short till knee or which were topless but long till feet or short till knee?
I knew that there are different opinions some scholars say it�s not allowed and I heard that some say it�s allowed if you know that there are restrictions to use cameras or cell phones.
There were only Muslim ladies no non-mahram was there.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
Muslim women do not need to wear hijab in front of each other, and what you are describing as topless is not topless, but rather showing a large area of the upper chest, and that would be permissible as long as they are not seen by any men or photographed.
Allah said:
�لَّا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِنَّ فِي آبَائِهِنَّ وَلَا أَبْنَائِهِنَّ وَلَا إِخْوَانِهِنَّ وَلَا أَبْنَاءِ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ وَلَا أَبْنَاءِ أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ وَلَا نِسَائِهِنَّ وَلَا مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ وَاتَّقِينَ اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدًا �
�There is no blame on them in respect of their fathers, nor their brothers, nor their brothers' sons, nor their sisters' sons nor their own women, nor of what their right hands possess; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is a witness of all things.� (al-Ahzaab 33:55)
The parts of the body that a woman may show in front of other women include the arms, the legs up to the knees, the head and neck and a considerable amount of the chest, and if she has to breast feed, she may do that in front of her sisters without harm, but she would otherwise not show her breasts.
It is closer to piety however, that women do not be extravagant and excessive in their costumes in parties. Modesty is always good even amongst other women.
They should not follow the fashions others follow.
They should not wear clothes known to belong to a particular group of unbelievers.
The clothes should not be too tight to reveal the form of the body or transparent and revealing to the complexion. (when amongst women, then we are talking about the parts that must be covered as indicated here above)
Allah knows best.

Besm Allah alrahman alraheem, alsalam alikom WAWB.
My wife works online most of her time and she open her webcam for her girl friend to see her uncovered and she thinks is nothing wrong with that
I’m not happy with that at all and I think it’s possible for her girl friend to have a man pass by the camera to see my wife uncovered, and I asked my wife to not use the camera at all because I think it’s haram and we can’t guarantee there is no one at her girl friend house.
One time I was traveling far away from home and my wife was online and her camera was open and but I need her permission to view her cam, so I asked her to open her cam for me to see her and she refused and I really wanted to see her and that made me mad and sad, and I said to her I’ll never forgive you if you don’t open your camera and she refused isn’t that haram for her to do?
Please advice me and my wife.
jazak Allahu khayeer
al salam alikom

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
You are right in not allowing your wife to open her camera while she is uncovered (without hijab).
If your wife uncovers her face (does not wear niqab), then she may wear her hijab and use her camera while talking to trustworthy women, non-marriageable men or yourself.
She should obey you and you should treat her kindly.
May Allah put mercy and compassion between you.
Allah knows best.

Assalaamu alaikum, There is a fatwa on here about the permissibility to shave the beard while training for an occupation (airline pilot) that was assumed to benefit the individual and the muslims. There was no suggestion he try another occupation that can help himself and the ummah and did not require removing the beard during training.
My question is then would it be permissible for me to remove my hijab during working hours for similar reasons of necessity? It would only be during working hours. I would have no other means of adequate financial support except working. That job could benefit myself and other muslims as well.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
There is a great difference between the beard and hijab. If a man asked whether he can work for a company that would not allow him to make his prayers, the answer would have been no. You must consider the degree of need and also the injunction to be compromised in tackling such issues.
The Muslim woman is not allowed to take off her hijab except in the case of necessity (such as if she had a legitimate reason to think she would be attacked if seen with the hijab). These extreme conditions happened and may happen, such as during the Spanish inquisitions or during the massacre of the Muslims in Bosnia…etc.
It is noteworthy here to say that the Muslims are required to immigrate if they cannot practice their religion.
In the USA, currently, there are many Muslim women who work with their hijab. It is preferable that the Muslim men try to suffice their families, so if the woman had to work, she may work from home or within the Muslim community or do a job that will respect who she is and her religious practices.
As for those sisters who do not have a provider, they should find one of those jobs where her religious practices are tolerated.
If there is a particular case of necessity, it must be addressed individually.
Allah knows best.