Insha'Allah you are doing well and making the most of this blessed month of Ramadan. I hate to take up your time but I just have a short/quick question about the concept of “Nisab” for purposes of paying zakah.
I am extremely confused about Nisab……what is the purpose of it, what is the monetary value of it in today's society (here in Minnesota for example), and if a person meets the nisab requirement, is the zakat applicable on all of his/her income or only the income above the nisab value.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
The nissab is the zakatable minimum below which one is not considered to be wealthy enough to need to give zakat.
Ibn Qudamad said in al-�Umdah,
�No zakat on silver until it reaches two hundred dirham [approx. 595 gm of pure silver], and its zakat is five dirhams (2.5%), and there is no zakat on gold until it reaches twenty mithqal [approx.85 gm of pure gold], and its zakat is half a mithqal (2.5%).�
This is a consensus.
Now, should we use gold or silver to value our wealth? Some say use what is better for the poor, which means in our time silver since that will mean more people will pay zakat. It seems that gold is the more realistic measure of wealth and in valuation of wealth and whether it reached nisaab, we should use it.
So the equation is easy:
Price of 1 gm of pure gold X 85 = nisaab
You can figure out the price from the paper or online.
Today, the price of one gram of 24 kt gold is 26.21. multiply that by 85, and the nisaab will be $2228. If you have 3000, you must pay zakat on the entire 3000, not the 772 difference only.
Allah knows best.

My question today is regarding the hype about menstruation and the ruling of whether or not a woman can go to the mosque, read the quran and in my case.
I am a part of Muslim-Care and sometimes visit sick sister(s) @ the hospital (usually consists of reading a dua or short surah from the quran) is that permissible? Please advise…

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
As for staying in the masjid,
Menstruating women may not stay in the masjid according to the hanafis, malikis, shafe�ees and hanbalis. according to a less popular narration in the Hanbali school and the great student of Imam ash-Shafe�ee, Imam al-Muzaney, she may stay in the masjid, since the hadeeth forbidding her from it is weak, and they argued that she is not like the junub (one with major ritual impurity), who may not stay in the masjid by consensus, since her hayd (menstruation) may last for many days (up to one third or one half of her fertile life).
Despite the fact that it is very unlikely that the agreement of the four schools would be wrong, one cannot deny that the second opinion is strong, and barring the menstruating women from the mosques where they can learn and benefit themselves and accompany their children needs to be based on unequivocal evidence, which is lacking in this case.
It is also important to note that the Islamic centers in the west are not only masjids, but they include the masjid, which is the prayer hall and other utility rooms. Outside of the prayer hall, they have stores and advertise on bulletin boards, which are all acts forbidden in the masjid, so it is the agreed upon 'urf (custom) that these areas are not part of the masjid. Therefore, menstruating women who hold the position of the majority may be able to come and stay outside the prayer hall and still listen to the lectures and accompany their husbands and/or children.
As for reading the Qur�an,
She may not read it according to the hanafis, shafe�ees and hanbalis, but Malik and Ibn Taymeah allow her to recite the Quran, and their opinion seems stronger due to the lack of authentic evidence to support the first opinion.
The majority uses, amongst other arguments the following hadeeth,
“لَا تَقْرَأْ الْحَائِضُ ولا الْجُنُبُ شيئا من الْقُرْآنِ”
�The menstruating woman and one with major sexual impurity may not reed any part of the Quran.� (Abu Dawood & at-Tirmidhi). But, the hadeeth was deemed weak by the scholars of hadeeth, including Ahmad ibn Hanbal.
As for du�a�,
It is allowable by consensus.
Allah knows best.

assalamu alaimkum, i have a question that has been on my mind for a while and i think that i've been getting mixed answers. my question is, is it ok to listed to the Qur�an while being distracted, i.e while falling asleep, cleaning ur house, or doing homework. i have been told that it's not ok to do that so i've replced that need with listening to music, but i would prefer to listed to Qur�an, it helps me memorize and helps me sleep better at night. please let me know what you think

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
You must be attentive to the Qur�anic recitation as much as you can. Allah says,
“وَإِذَا قُرِىءَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُواْ لَهُ وَأَنصِتُواْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ”
�So, when the Qur�an is recited, listen to it, and be silent that you may receive mercy.� (7:204)
Many scholars interpreted this to mean listening to the Qur�an during the prayer for those praying as ma�moom. Some say it is in reference to the Qur�an recited during the Jumuah (Friday sermon), while others maintain that it applies to the Qur�anic recital in general.
In tafseer al-Jalalayn, it says,
�This was revealed regarding refraining from speech during the sermon, which here has been expressed by [the recital of] 'the Qur�an', because it comprises it; others say that it was revealed regarding the recitation of the Qur�an in general.� And in Asbaab an-Nuzool (Reasons of revelation) by al-Wahidi, it says,
�… Abu Hurayrah said regarding this verse: �This was revealed about raising voices while in prayer behind the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace�. Said Qatadah: �When the prayer was first obligated, people used to speak during their prayers. A man would come and shout to his friend: �How many units of prayers have you performed?� and his friend would respond: �such-and-such�. And so this verse was revealed�. … Sa�id ibn Jubayr, Mujahid, �Ata�, �Amr ibn Dinar and other commentators of the Qur�an are of the opinion that this verse was revealed about listening to the prayer leader upon giving the sermon of the Friday prayer.�
From the above, it seems that there are three opinions regarding what is meant by the verse. Yet, it is fair to say that what matters is the immortal statement of the text and, thus, we must be as attentive as possible when the Qur�an is recited in general.
Being busy working or falling asleep while partially listening and partially benefiting is not an insult to the Qur�an, for you are still benefiting from it as much as you can. Such was the fatwa of Sh. Salih al-Fawzaan regarding a woman who listens to the Quran while in the Kitchen cooking. [al-Muntaqa min fatawa al-Fawzaan, Question # 437].
It would be an insult if people are laughing and joking around, and having the Qur�an play in the background while completely distracted from it.
Also if some had the Quran playing in the market or so, you are not obliged to stand there and listen.
If having Qur�anic recitation in the background will help you with all of what you mentioned, then I would certainly advise you to do so. I would also advise that, if your main language is not Arabic, to get the audio recordings of the translated Qur�an to listen to the Arabic text and the translation, which will help you learn what Allah is addressing you with.
This is even more warranted if it will spare you listening to music, which is forbidden in Islam (according to the vast majority) for various proofs, including the following hadeeth,
“لَيَكُونَنَّ من أُمَّتِي أَقْوَامٌ يَسْتَحِلُّونَ الْحِرَ وَالْحَرِيرَ وَالْخَمْرَ وَالْمَعَازِفَ…” �There will come people of my ummah who will make permissible fornication, silk, wine and musical instruments…� (al-Bukhari) I ask Allah to make the Qur�an the life of your heart, the light of your breast, a departure for your sorrow and a release for your anxiety.

Assalamu alaikum, Jazak Allah Khair for your service and serving the Muslim community that are in need of guidance.
I have a question regarding a sensitive issue of Misyar marriage.
I understand from purely definition point of view Misyar marriage falls with in the valid and legal marriage, as it meets all the criteria/conditions of the legal marriage. People can have a permanent intention to remain married when entering in Misyar marriage while divorce is also permitted in future. When issuing a fatwa does the issuer (faqih) generally considers how the fatwa will be used and what will be the consequences. In future (or at present) at some point if statistics proves that most( example 90%) of the Misyar marriage ends up in divorce within a short duration (example 3-4 months), and results show the existence of abandoned child by the Misyar father/mother, is this a factor that the faqih consider when re-visiting the fatwa.
According to the definition of valid marriage - my understanding is, in the framework of Misyar marriage one does not need to inform his current wife(s), if there is a present wife(s).Also, if meeting the conditions of marriage is sufficient for a marriage to be valid, then the Misyar is not specific to any specific country or region or does not need to be for any specific circumstances. As it is evident by looking at the conditions, they are not mentioning any specific circumstances.
My understanding is the concept of Misyar is based on the purity of intention (need intention for permanent marriage when entering into the marriage), while either the bride (or the groom) can have pure intention but the groom`s( or the bride visa versa) intention could be ” impure”.
Isn`t this fatwa will (lets say its not existing already) open the door for commercial packages and a boyfriend/girlfriend culture similar to the western and many other countries ?
Are these some factors that faqih considers the end effect when issuing a rulings?
I am in need to guidance regarding this issue.
Jazakallah Khair for shedding light on this topic.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
The fact that something is permissible does not mean all people have to do it, but it may be recommended in certain cases and not others. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) advised one of his companions (Jabir) to marry a virgin, not a previously married woman, though the consensus is that it is allowable to marry a woman who was previously married. The Messenger of Allah himself married Khadijah who was previously married and fifteen years his senior. Besides, Jabir was able to justify his decision to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Also, we recommend compatibility between the candidates for marriage, and would advise against the marriage of two who have a huge educational gap. Nevertheless, we cannot forbid it, as long as it meets the conditions and pillars of marriage.
The Misyaar marriage does meet such pillars and conditions. It may be recommended in the case of a divorced or widowed woman with four kids and a slim chance of getting married. She may give up some of her rights in the division of days between her and the co-wives to be able to get married. In this way, she would not be deprived of her emotional, physiological and other needs and would have a companion in her life. Sawdah, the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), did just that when she got older. If a younger woman with better chances of getting married accepted such conditions, we cannot condemn her choice, but we can certainly advise her against it.
The flexibility of the sharee�ah is part of its beauty and ability to address with balance the different circumstances, needs, personalities and customs.
Allah knows best.

According to the Hadith in Sahih Muslim, must the Muslim use scented musk or may he use an unscented anointing oil, like the Jews and the Christians?

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.
A Muslim does not have to use any oil, scented or unscented for the prayer. The use of oil is different from other religions. We use scented oil at any time for its good smell, not for the blessings of the oil and not as a mystic or ritual practice. It is simply an etiquette related to grooming and beautification.
In this case, a Muslim who does not have perfumes, cannot use them, or does not want to use them may pray without any oil.
If he puts on unscented oil to imitate others and/or thinking it is a virtuous practice, then he would have combined two sins, the imitation of non-Muslims in religious matters and innovation.
Allah knows best.