Letters to the Editor
Q: 1 am a fourteen-year-old daily reader of YMD. Recently, I saw in a popular soap brand that it contains cetearyl alcohol. So I want to know that it is permitted or not?
Faisal Izhar,
On Email
YMD
We are not sure whether this is a soap or something else.
If it is, it is inadvisable to give it first preference, though it is not haram to use it.
Q: We all know that the Qur’an is the word of Allah.However, there is a preacher in the West who preaches that the written Qur’an is not actually Qur’an, but a representation (alaamat) of the actual Qur’an only. He also says that the actual Qur’an is written in loh-e-mahfooz only. He says only spoken or recited Qur’an is actually Qur’an.
Please clear this doubt.
Khalid Khan,
On Email
YMD
Kindly send us his own sentences in English,and the source, before we can say anything. Please do not quote him in your words.
Q: We are staying at a home since one year on lease for three lakhrupees.We also pay Rs.1000/- every month as the tax for water. So my question is: should we give Zakath on the lease amount?Also, is it correct to stay on lease (as our monthly income is approximately 50-60 thousand) or should we stay on rent?
Ashurah,
On Email
YMD
Kindly give us the terms and conditions of the lease agreement, in every detail, for us to be able to say anything about its legality.
Q: I do believe in the eternity of Omnipotent, Sublime Almighty, His intercessor and mediator, prophet Muhammad (pbuh), Angels and sacred book,al-Qur’an.
YMD
The Prophet is the intercessor, yes; but he is not a mediator. A mediator is a negotiator, conciliator, arbitrator, go-between, etc. But Allah needs no mediator, negotiator, etc. He will deal directly with his creations on the Day of Judgment. Several ahadith have made this clear.
So, you may safely remove this item from the list of your `Aqaa’id.
Q: My question is,once a Muslim after death is deposited in a gloomy pitch exhumed in a sepulcher, he or she is questioned: (1) Who is your God? (2) What is your religion? (3) Identify who is this?Now, what about Muhammad (saws)? Being a light of Almighty, most superior among all creations in entire universe?
YMD
Another point of note and correction in your `Aqaa’id is that the Prophet was not a Light of Allah. Indeed, no creation is a Light of Allah. Allah is apart from His creations, above them, and beyond them. His creations share nothing of Allah’s Person. To say that so and so is from the Light of Allah, is a stealthy, sneaking, covert shirk.Shaytan comes from channels, by which he is able to deceive the most alert of men. The Qur’an has already informed us, and warned us: “And believe not great many of them in Allah, but associate with Him.”
When Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal was dying, Shaytan came to him and said, “You escaped my ploys because of your knowledge.” The Imam told him to get lost with his trap. He told him that it was by Allah’s protection – not by his own knowledge –that he was able to escape his traps.
Many religious people, especially the green party cadres and leaders, are victims of their own failed visions which take images for imagery.
Q: Had question No.3 been posed to him(saws) or not?
Fayaz Khan,
On Email
YMD
Why consider the third question alone? Why not all three?
Q: I am KhajaNazimuddin, currently working in Malaysia since long time I have two questions which I wanted to ask. I am a programmer, and I got many offers to work for Banking / Insurance companies and their monthly pay packages are also very high, but most of time whenever I consulted some Islamic scholar’s they deny me to work for such corporates. I can clearly understand the concept of interest in Banking which is surely haram in Islam but how about working for Insurance company?
YMD
Primarily, insurance has been declared Haram. To the question why, the answer is simple. It conceals its true nature which need some uncovering.
On what basis can a man deposit a sum ‘X’ into a financial company and get back ‘X+Y’ after a period, without contributing any work, and without accepting to bear any risk? The sum ‘Y’ then is interest. Now, you call that financial company a ‘Bank’ or ‘Savings & Loan Agency’, or ‘Co-operative Fund Management Company’, or whatever else misleading names. If it offers ‘X+Y’ against a deposit of ‘X’, without the clause that it could be ‘X minus Y’ also, then that transaction must be categorized as interest-based.
The scholars who declared insurance transactions as halal, have been, on the whole, found to be either poorly qualified, or working in the interests of theirgovernments – although we do not know how much the second factor has affected their rulings. Imam Abu Haneefa was whipped in public for refusing to work for the government.
Take it to simplicities. Talk to your closest friend: “Let the two of us – being so close to each other since childhood –enter into an insurance pact. Let us both deposit 1000 bucks each calling it an ‘investment fund.’ Now, if I fall sick, costing me 2000 as hospital bills, I take the whole ‘investment fund’ amounting to 2000. And, if you fall sick, costing you 2000 in medical bills, you take 1500 of the ‘investment fund’ because, to be absolutely fair, doing no injustice to any, you are older than me, and, in addition, suffer from diabetes!”
Wait for an answer from a distance, and watch for his fist-movement.
Q: Why is wearing gold(beyond certain %) and silk for man is haram in Islam? What is the scientific reason in that?
Nazim Khan,
On Email
YMD
The words in brackets appear to be camouflaged effort at legalizing the illegal. It must come out of the brackets and be specified.
As for why gold and silk are prohibited for Muslim men, the reason is because the Prophet said, “He who wore silk in this world will not wear it in the Hereafter,” and because once he took silk in one hand, gold in another, and said, “Surely, these two are forbidden unto the males of my Ummah.”
So, that is the reason why gold and silk are forbidden unto the Muslim males. The reason then, is religious and not scientific. Religion is on firm foundation, science is on shaky foundation. Religion is absolute truth. Science is tentatively, relatively, and hypothetically so. (How many scientifically successful men have not contemplated suicide? Ask C.P.Snow).
He who does not know science, runs the risk of losing some material benefits.He who does not know the revelations, stands to lose all, this world and the Next, a peaceful earthly life and the all-pleasant Paradise.
Whether to use gold or not is not a scientific issue. Science deals with materials, not with spiritual matters.
Interestingly, 99.99999% men, all over the world, do not wear gold. But nobody asks them why. But if Islam says, do not wear gold, they ask, “Why not?”
Q: Please let me know whether a Muslim can marry an aunt’s daughter.
SyedKhajas,
On Email
YMD
Very much yes.
Q: What is the difference between a ‘convert’ and a ‘revert’ to Islam?
Mohammed Khurram,
On Email
YMD
A convert is someone who turns from one thing to another, e.g. who turns from one religion to another. A revert is someone who turns back to what he was originally on, e.g., someone who was already on a true religion, turns back to his original religion, after having missed it for some time. That is, he was born on a true religion, submission to Allah, now turns back to Islam, the true religion.
However, when the spirit is lost, its followers fight over words. Those who insist that you must use the word revert, and never convert, never refer to the borderline believing sinners, who join their group, as ‘reverts.’
