Long time ago, I have been praying that Allah grant me a converted muslim husband, non arab so I can teach him arabic and rise our children under islamic way.. Months ago I met by coincidence a man who was Christian, talking about islam, he get interested to know more, and Alhamdoulilah, he converted to Islam yesterday in London Central mosque, he also wants to come to algeria and meet my parents and get married, I feel allah ( SW) answered my prayers, but the only thing that scares me is what if my parents won’t accept me marrying a non algerian man ( even if he converted etc) I see this as non islamic reaction, I believe that those converted ppl are realy better than us ( the borned muslims..) They know and feel the light of Huda, Please Sheikh, what shall I do if my parents didn’t accept this man? I didn’t ask my mother about it and I just want to tell them, that a person is coming to learn arabic and know more about Islam, and he will ask my hand when he comes over. Please pray for me that my parents will accept. they should because allah ( SW) accepted and loved this man that’ why he is now Muslim.. I’m 28 years old, and my mother is looking forward to see me married, but she wont expect this..I need your prayers sisters and brothers. because I don’t want to make Allah angry of me if I marry him without Ridha wali ( Which I will not do), Thank you, wassalam

Alhamdu-li-llah wa as-Salatu wa as-Salamu ‘ala Rasool-il-llah,
Allah didn’t give anyone undue authority over us, even our parents. Thus, the Prophet (pbuh) said, “And if they (the woman and her guardian) have conflicting positions, the sultan (or an agent thereof like a judge) shall be the guardian of one who doesn’t have a guardian.”
It remains to be said that this would apply only if the guardian’s position is completely unfounded. However, in your case, I don’t think your parents’ refusal is completely unfounded, for they may have many fears and concerns about your future should you marry that brother. They may not be certain that he will continue to be Muslim, since he is new and not stable yet. They may fear that you may get mistreated in a land far away from them, and they won’t be able to help…etc. I would urge you to persuade your parents with gentleness if you are convinced, and if Allah means it for you, he will make them comfortable with your decision.
Allah knows best.

I was hoping to get your opinion on celebrating holidays (such as Thanksgiving, Mothers Day, Birthdays) in the following situations:
1) Muslim only gathering
2) Mixed gathering (Muslim and Christian)
Thanks for your help!

All praise be to Allah, and may his peace and blessings be on the last and best prophet and messenger, Muhammad.
The feasts that may never be celebrated by consensus are the religious feasts of non-Muslims. Also, we may not celebrate innovated religious feasts, even if they were innovated by Muslims. The national holidays are to be avoided since they are recurrent and public like al-Fitr and al-Adha, and thus would fall under the Prophet�s statement:
) إنَّ الله أبْدَلَكُم بخَيرٍ مِنهُما: عيد الأضحى وعيد الفطر (
�Allah has given you in their stead something better: Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr.� (Narrated by al-Nasa�i)
The personal celebrations are controversial. These would be like personal birthdays and wedding anniversaries. They are in a way competing with the two Islamic feasts of fitr and adha and in a way different, since they are not public celebrations. Based on that, even if I prefer for you to avoid such feasts, I find it hard to say it is haram to celebrate them.
If you decided to celebrate these, I would advise the following:
• Segregation between the genders; Women should all be observing proper hijab (of dress and conduct) if complete segregation is not affordable. In such case men would be on one side of the room and women on the opposite side.
• There should be no music played; Songs accompanied by percussion instruments are allowable.
• To have non-Muslims of the same gender for a good cause is permissible.
Allah knows best.

Can we join the army?

All praise be to Allah and may His peace and blessings be on His final and greatest messenger, Muhammad.
Although the Muslims may defend their homeland – including non-Muslim countries that grant them freedom of worship - against outside aggression, to protect their lives, properties and freedom of worship of their lord, they may not be part of any aggression (offensive) done against others. This includes working in a combatant or non-combatant capacity.
The wars conducted by the companions against the Persians and Romans and their likes were for the cause of Allah and that is the cause of justice, for He is The Infinitely Just. There is no doubt they defeated two tyrannical empires and brought their subjects the much yearned for security and justice. The Historical accounts testify to this fact, and those who deny will not be able to block the light of the sun.
Moreover, the price of modern war is enormous; with loss of life and wealth that is hundreds of thousands of times more than the war during the time of the companions. This should make anyone entertaining non-defensive acts of war obliged to re-think their plans and alternatives hundreds of times.
Allah knows best.

This Article was written in response to the following question: How to build bridges with people of other religious communities without compromising our belief?

  

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad.

 

 

If a group of Muslims worked with Christians and Jews, or Hindus and atheists on cleaning their neighborhoods, saving the environment, protecting the oppressed, and standing for the poor, homeless, uninsured…etc, that would be a hilf fuddol (Virtuous Alliance, like the one the Prophet was part of before Islam and he said that he would be part of it in Islam).

How much of the efforts of Muslims should be spent on matters like saving the environment when the ummah is facing such enormous challenges would be a different discussion, but if some of us did this, it would be good even if that was their primary activity (given they fulfilled their obligations).

To have shared religious services or the like would be crossing the lines. Also, we do not need to sanction their religion to show friendliness, after all the Muslims in India will need to accept Hinduism as a way to salvation, and to be politically correct, you will also need to accept atheism as a respected doctrine. (In fact, many atheists and agnostics are better to us than many of the people of the book).

If Islam is from God, then it is natural that God has the right to define which way leads to him. This is not only in Islam, but in all religions of Divine origin.

Extra ecclesia nullum salus (no salvation outside the church)!

Allah says,

"وَمَن يَبْتَغِ غَيْرَ الإِسْلاَمِ دِينًا فَلَن يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُ وَهُوَ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ"

“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.” (3:85)

And he says,"إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيْنَ اللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَيقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُواْ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ سَبِيلاً   151 أُوْلَئِكَ هُمُ الْكَافِرُونَ حَقًّا وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابًا مُّهِينًا  152 وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَلَمْ يُفَرِّقُواْ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ أُوْلَئِكَ سَوْفَ يُؤْتِيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ وَكَانَ اللّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا"

“Those who deny Allah and His apostles, and (those who) wish to separate Allah from His apostles, saying: "We believe in some but reject others": And (those who) wish to take a course midway* They are in truth (equally) unbelievers; and we have prepared for unbelievers a humiliating punishment.*To those who believe in Allah and His apostles and make no distinction between any of the apostles, we shall soon give their (due) rewards: for Allah is Oft- forgiving, Most Merciful.” (4:150-152)

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,

" والذي نفسي بيده ، لا يسمع بي أحد من هذه الأمة : يهودي ولا نصرني ، ثم يموت ولم يؤمن بالذي أرسلت به إلا كان من أهل النار "

“By the One in Whose Hand is my soul, no one of this nation, Jew or Christian, will hear of me then die without believing in that with which I have been sent, but he will be one of the people of Hell.” (Narrated by Muslim).

 

The notion of Abrahamic Faiths cannot be answered by any statement better than Allah’s; He said,

 "مَا كَانَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ يَهُودِيًّا وَلاَ نَصْرَانِيًّا وَلَكِن كَانَ حَنِيفًا مُّسْلِمًا وَمَا كَانَ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ"“Ibrahim was not a Jew nor a Christian but he was (an) upright (man), a Muslim, and he was not one of the polytheists.” (3:67) 

There are two important points to mention in this regard:

1-      No one will be held accountable for not being Muslim if they did not hear about the true message of Islam.

2-      We can never say to an individual that he/she will enter heaven or hell, for we can never be sure of their end, even if we were standing by their bedside when they die. We only say that those who die as Muslims will enter Paradise.

 

                It is important to understand that for a religious minority, the notions of “All religions are equal” or “Religions are different paths leading to the same end” are dangerous and their acceptance is a commitment of communal suicide. That is because there is always enormous pressure to assimilate into the mainstream.

 

Having said that, it is important to note that you don’t have to accept someone’s religion to treat them kindly. This whole concept is foreign to us, and in part stems from the severe intolerance shown by the Europeans of the middle ages to those of other religions or sects. One way to counter this was to raise doubts about religion in general, about one’s ability to be certain of his own, and make the people at least believe that other religions are not worse than theirs.

 

We should not have this problem, for we can disagree with someone’s religion or lifestyle and continue to be kind to them even if they were pagans. In fact, the following verse was in reference to the pagans,

"لَا يَنْهَاكُمُ اللَّهُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَاتِلُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَارِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوا إِلَيْهِمْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ"

Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers (al-Mumtahanah 8)

 

The Prophet said,

"من آذى ذميا فقد آذاني و من آذاني فقد آذى الله"

“He who harms a peaceful/contracted non-Muslim Harms me; and he who Harms me Harms Allah.” [al-Tabarani, with a chain that is sound/hassan]

  And he said,

"من آذى ذميا فأنا خصيمه."

“He who Harms a peaceful/contracted non-Muslim, then I will be His opponent.” [al-Khateeb, with a chain that is sound/hassan]

And said,

"من أمن رجلا على دمه فقتله فأنا برئ من القاتل وإن كان المقتول كافرا." [رواه النسائي والبخاري في التاريخ وصححه الألباني في صحيح الجامع من حديث عمرو بن الحمق الخزاعي]

  “If someone entrusts a person with his life and then that person killed him, then I am clear of the killer even if the victim is a disbeliever.” [reported by an-Nasa’ey and al-Bukhari in his book at-Tareekh and authenticated by al-Albani in Saheeh al-Jami’]

So, the “Kill the infidels” practice is not ours and it is completely foreign to Islam.

 

Moreover, we were commanded to avoid stereotypes, Allah says,

"وَمِنْ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُم مَّنْ إِن تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لاَّ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلاَّ مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَائِمًا ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الأُمِّيِّينَ سَبِيلٌ وَيَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللّهِ الْكَذِبَ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ"

“Among the People of the Book are some who, if entrusted with a hoard of gold, will (readily) pay it back; others, who, if entrusted with a single silver coin, will not repay it unless thou constantly stoodest demanding, because, they say, "there is no call on us (to keep faith) with these ignorant (Pagans)." but they tell a lie against Allah, and (well) they know it.” (3:75)

 

The Prophet –Peace be upon him- stated to the Christians of Najran “No man from among them may be held accountable for the violations of another of his fellows”. (Al-Kharaj by Abu-Yusuf)

 By agreement, The many verses in the Quran that talk about showing kindness to people, particularly the kin and neighbours are not limited to Muslims only. "وَاعْبُدُواْ اللّهَ وَلاَ تُشْرِكُواْ بِهِ شَيْئًا وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ إِحْسَانًا وَبِذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْيَتَامَى وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَالْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْجَارِ الْجُنُبِ وَالصَّاحِبِ بِالجَنبِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ مُخْتَالاً فَخُورًا."“Worship Allah and associate nothing with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbour, the neighbour farther away, the companion at your side, the traveller, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed Allah does not like those who are self-deluding and boastful.” (An-Nisa’: 36) 

The Messenger of Allah showed us to respect the human soul when he stood during the funeral procession of a Jew until he was buried, and when he was alerted to it being the funeral of a Jew, he said,

"ألَيْسَت نَفْساً"

“Isn’t it a soul?” [Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim].

 

In building bridges and having dialogue with others, we are taught to be “diplomatic” and non-offensive, Allah says,

"وَلاَ تَسُبُّواْ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ فَيَسُبُّواْ اللّهَ عَدْوًا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَّا لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ عَمَلَهُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّهِم مَّرْجِعُهُمْ فَيُنَبِّئُهُم بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ"

“Revile not those unto whom they pray beside Allah lest they wrongfully revile Allah through ignorance. Thus unto every nation have We made their deed seem fair. Then unto their Lord is their return, and He will tell them what they used to do.” (al-An'am 108)

 

We were told to be gentle even with those who are sly and impolite.

"عن عَائِشَةَ رضي الله عنها قالت كان الْيَهُودُ يُسَلِّمُونَ على النبي  صلى الله عليه وسلم  يَقُولُونَ السَّامُ عَلَيْكَ فَفَطِنَتْ عَائِشَةُ إلى قَوْلِهِمْ فقالت عَلَيْكُمْ السَّامُ وَاللَّعْنَةُ فقال النبي  صلى الله عليه وسلم  مَهْلًا يا عَائِشَةُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الرِّفْقَ في الْأَمْرِ كُلِّهِ فقالت يا نَبِيَّ اللَّهِ أو لم تَسْمَعْ ما يَقُولُونَ قال أو لم تَسْمَعِي اني أَرُدُّ ذَلِكِ عليهم فَأَقُولُ وَعَلَيْكُمْ." (ق)It was reported that when a group of Jews approached the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and greeted him with twisted pronunciation, and thus uttered “Assam `Alaykum, O Muhammad!” (meaning “death and destruction come upon you”) instead of “As-salamu `Alaykum”, `A'ishah heard them and responded by saying, ‘Assamu `Alaykum also and the curse and wrath of Allah!” The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) rebuked `A'ishah for what she had said. She told him, “Did you not hear what they said?” He said, “I did, and I responded by saying, ‘And upon you,’” (i.e., that death will come upon you as it will come upon me.) He went on to say, “O `A'ishah! Allah loves gentleness in all matters.” (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim) 

In addition, if talking to them is futile, and they start to transgress, Allah teaches us to stay away from the ignorant and avoid altercation with them,

"خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ."

"Hold to forgiveness; command what is right; but turn away from the ignorant". (7:199)

 As for those who are kind to us, we should be more kind to them, and there are so many ways to build bridges with them without compromising our beliefs, such as:

·         Having interfaith dialogues to show them the beauty of Islam and develop a platform to work together on issues of common interest to humanity. Credible learned Muslims must conduct such activities. Otherwise, they often turn into disasters.

·         Working with them on the common good of humanity, such as the protection of the environment, and standing for the unfortunate.

·         Being part of the civil society or serving on school or city boards may be more important than sending someone to the US congress.

·         Visiting their churches and inviting them to our masjids, for Omar visited the church in Jerusalem and the Prophet hosted the delegation of the Najranite Christians in his masjid.

·         Showing support to just cases worldwide, whether the involved parties are Muslim or non-Muslim. 

·         Inviting them to food and responding to their invitation.

·         Exchanging home visits with them as long as our religious preferences are respected.

·         Being good neighbors who look after their neighbors’ interests, and good co-workers as well as classmates.

·         Exchanging gifts.

·         Charity. Opening our food shelves to all people. (that is what the Building Blocks plans to do); Having a drive to look after the homeless; Visiting shelters and passing out supplies to their residents; visiting senior homes and inviting all residents to food and socialization…etc.

 

There is so much that can be done to build such bridges and reach out to the non-Muslims who are good to us. After all, most of our ancestors converted to Islam because of the kind treatment they received from the Muslims.

 

Allah knows best.

I`m a new converted Muslim but my family still didn`t know. The problem is Ramadan is coming and I don`t have a community to share with, I can`t fast (because my family wouldn`t accept the fact of conversion) and I don`t have any Muslim around me to encourage me. I also can`t travel to any Islamic country because I`m still studying in the university. I feel really confuse and I dont know what to do. I also can`t pray (just when I`m alone at home) so many times i have to be awake until 2 or 3am to can make the 5 prays together, when everybody sleeps. But it`s really hard for me to continue like this. I have also try to get any scholarship to study in any Islamic country but Egyptians universities doesn`t accept me, unless i pay a lot of money. What can I do?

All praise be to Allah, and may His peace and blessings be on the greatest messenger, Muhammad. My respected sister, Thank you for your trust, and I hope that Allah will make things easy for you and illuminate your path with guidance, and lead you to prosperity in this life and the one to come.
I truly feel for you and appreciate your predicament, but I still have to encourage you to change your current reality. This is my advice:
1- Prayers are the second greatest pillar of Islam after the testimony of faith. It is how we connect to God and enjoy His company. That is not to say He is not with us or we are not connected with Him outside the prayers, but the prayers are a very special opportunity to have a very special type of connection with Him. You must try to find ways to pray, and if you started the prayer inside your room and you feel that someone is about to enter, you may interrupt it if you are truly this afraid of them knowing about your conversion. Ideally, you should tell them and many families did accept the conversion of their kids, even if took some time. But, you know your family better.
2- Fasting is easier because you may claim that you are dieting, which you are.
3- Try to move to a Muslim community within your country; you do not have to go all the way to Egypt. In the west, if that is where you are from, it is easy for college students to be on their own.
4- Do not make haste about the decision to marry a Muslim man until you find a truly sincere, God fearing one. I would prefer that he share the same cultural background of yours.
5- Seek help from Allah to guide you to that which is best for you; He is our best friend and guardian; He said, ” وَالَّذِينَ جَاهَدُوا فِينَا لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ” �And those who strive in Our (cause),- We will certainly guide them to our Paths: For verily Allah is with those who do right.� (al-�Ankaboot, 29:69)
Allah knows best.