Author Archives: Ikram Hawramani

Ikram Hawramani

About Ikram Hawramani

The creator of IslamicArtDB.

Amina (Name)

Amina (transliteration: Āminah) is an Arabic name for girls that means “secure”, “safe”1, “without fear”2, “tranquil”3.

Amina was the name of the mother of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Her full name was Amina bint Wahb. There are also seven Companions of the Prophet with the name Amina:

  • Amina bint al-Arqam آمنة بنت الأرقم
  • Amina bint Khalaf آمنة بنت خلف
  • Amina bint Ruqaish آمنة بنت رُقيش
  • Amina bint Sa`d آمنة بنت سعد
  • Amina bint Abi al-Salt آمنة بنت أبي الصَّلْت
  • Amina bint Affan آمنة بنت عفان
  • Amina bint Qais آمنة بنت قيس

The name Amina may also be spelled as Aamina, Aminah, Aaminah, Amena, Aamena, Amenah and Aamenah.

The name Amina is used in the Quran in verse 16:112:

And God cites the example of a town that was secure and peaceful, with its livelihood coming to it abundantly from every direction. But then it turned unappreciative of God’s blessings, so God made it taste the robe of hunger and fear, because of what they used to craft.

Below is the name Amina written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in Arabic ruʿqah script:

Aliya (Name)

Aliya (transliteration: ʿĀliyah) is an Arabic name for girls that means “lofty”, “high”, “at the top”, “the top part of something”1. Aliya is also another name for the Hijaz, the part of Arabia that contains the cities of Mecca and Medina.2

There is one Companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with the name of Aliya:

  • al-Aliya bint al-Waleed العالية بنت الوليد

Aliya bint Ali (1911 – 1950) was an Arabian princess and the last queen of Iraq, being the wife of King Ghazi.

The name Aliya may also be spelled as Aliyah, Alia, Aalia, Aaliah, Aleya, Aaleya, Aleyah and Aaleyah.

The name Aliya is used in the Quran in verse 69:22:

21. So he will be in pleasant living. 22. In a lofty Garden.

Aliya is also used in verse 88:10 of the Quran:

9. Satisfied with their endeavor. 10. In a lofty Garden.

Below is the name Aliya written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in Arabic ruʿqah script:

Abis (Name)

Abis (transliteration: ʿĀbis) is an Arabic name for boys that means “lion”1, its literal meaning is “angry”2 and “fierce”3.

There are four Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who have this name:

  • Abis bin Ja`dah al-Tamimi عابس بن جعدة التميمي
  • Abis bin Rabee`ahعابس بن ربيعة
  • Abis bin Aabis al-Ghaffariعابس بن عابس الغفاري
  • Abis slave of Huwaitib bin Abd al-Uzzaa عابس مولى حويطب بن عبد العزى

Abis was the name of a sword mentioned by the poet Farazdaq, belonging to someone called Abdulrahman bin Sulaim al-Kalbi.4

The name Abis may also be spelled as Aabis, Abes, Aabes, and ‘Abis.

Below is the name Abis written in Arabic naskh script:

 

Below is the same name written in Arabic ruʿqah script:

Aaiz (Name)

There are two different Arabic names that my be spelled as Aaiz in English:

Aaiz (1)

Aaiz (transliteration: ʿĀʾiḏ) is an Arabic name for boys that means “one who has difficulties”1 or “one who is in need of something but cannot find it or acquire it”2. It can also mean “one who lacks proficiency”3, “needy” or “poor”4.

There are twelve companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) who have the name Aaiz:

  • Aaiz bin al-Saa’ib al-Makhzumiعائذ بن السائب المخزومي
  • Aaiz bin Sa`d al-Jisri عائذ بن سعد الجسري
  • Aaiz bin Salamahعائذ بن سلمة
  • Aaiz bin Sa`eed bin Zaydعائذ بن سعيد بن زيد
  • Aaiz bin Qart al-Sakuniعائذ بن قرط السكوني
  • Aaiz bin Abi Aa’iz al-Ja`fiعائذ بن أبي عائذ الجعفي
  • Aaiz bin Abd Amr al-Azdiعائذ بن عبد عمرو الأزدي
  • Aaiz bin Amr al-Ansariعائذ بن عمرو الأنصاري
  • Aaiz bin Amr al-Muzaniعائذ بن عمرو المزني
  • Aaiz bin Qais al-Jurmuziعائذ بن قيس الجُرمُزي
  • Aaiz bin Maa`is bin Qaisعائذ بن ماعص بن قيس
  • Aaiz bin Mu`adh bin Anasعائذ بن معاذ بن أنس

The name Aaiz may also be spelled as Aez, Aaez, A’iz, A’ez, Aa’iz, Ayez, Ayiz, and Aayiz.

Below is the name Aaiz written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in Arabic ruqʿah script:

Aaiz (2)

Aaiz can also be another spelling of the name Aaid, for the details of this name please see: Aaid.

Aaid (Name)

Aaid (transliteration: ʿĀʾiḍ) is an Arabic name for boys that means “something that fills the place of another thing (that one has lost)”1, “something given to someone (especially by God) that consoles them for a loss”2.

There is a famous modern Saudi Islamic scholar and activist who has this name: Aaid al-Qarni (born 1959).

The name Aaid may also be written as Aid, Aaid, Aaidh, Aiz, Aayiz, Aayidh, Aayid, Aayiz.

Below is the name Aaid written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is Aaid written in Arabic ruʿqah script:

Aisha (Name)

Aisha (transliteration: ʿĀʾishah) is an Arabic name for girls that means “one who has a good condition in life”12. Its literal meaning is “alive”3. Aisha is the feminine form of the boy name Aaish.

There are eight Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) with the name of Aisha, including his own wife (first on the list below):

  • Aisha bint Abi Bakr al-Siddiq عائشة بنت أبي بكر الصديق
  • Aisha bint Jareer عائشة بنت جرير
  • Aisha bint al-Harith عائشة بنت الحارث
  • Aisha bint Abi Sufyan عائشة بنت أبي سفيان
  • Aisha bint Abdul Rahman عائشة بنت عبد الرحمن
  • Aisha bint Ujrud عائشة بنت عجرد
  • Aisha bint Umair عائشة بنت عمير
  • Aisha bint Qudamah عائشة بنت قدامة

The name Aisha may also be spelled as Aaisha, Aishah, A’isha, Aa’isha, A’ishah, Aaishah, Aesha, Ayesha, Ayeshah, and Aayesha among others.

There is an Arabian tribe by the name of Banu Aisha.4

Below is the name Aisha written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is Aisha written in the Arabic calligraphic ruʿqah script:

Aaish (Name)

Aaish (transliteration: ʿĀʾish) is an Arabic name for boys that means “one who has a good condition in life”12. Its literal meaning is “one who is alive”.3 Aaish is the masculine form of the girl name Aisha.

There is one Companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with the name Aaish:

  • Aaish bin al-Saamit عائش بن الصامت

The name Aaish may also be spelled as Aish, A’ish, Aa’ish, Aesh, A’esh, Aesh, Ayesh, Aayesh, Aiesh, Ayish, and Aayish.

Below is the name Aaish in Arabic naskh script:

Below is Aaish written in the Arabic ruʿqah script:

Aayan (Name)

Aayan (transliteration: Aʿyan) is an ancient Arabic name for boys that means “one who has large beautiful eyes”1, it is the masculine form of the girl name ʿAynaaʾ2.

There is one Companion of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) by the name of Aayan:

  • Aayan bin Ḍubayʿah أعين بن ضُبيعَة

Abdullah ibn Aayan was a scholar of hadith.3

Aayan may also be spelled as A’yan, Ayan, Ayen and Aayen.

Below is the name Aayan written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in ruʿqah script:

Aawar (Name)

Aawar (transliteration: Aʿwar) is an ancient Arabic boy name that means “one who has bad eyesight”1, “deficient”2, “vincible” (exposed to attack)3 (it is common for ancient Arabian names to have negative meanings).

There are two companions of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) with the name Aawar:

  • al-Aawar bin al-Ward الأعور بن الورد
  • al-Aawar bin Bashamah الأعور بن بشامة

Aawar may also be spelled as Aawer, Awer, A’war and Awar.

Below is the name Aawar written in the Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in the calligraphic ruʿqah script

Aasha (Name)

Aasha (transliteration: Aʿshā) is an ancient Arabic name for boys that means “one who suffers from night blindness”,1 it can also have the more general meaning of “one who has bad eyesight”.2

There is one companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who has this name:

  • Aasha al-Mazini أعشى المازني

Maymun Ibn Qays Al-Aasha was a famous Arabic pre-Islamic poet.

The name Aasha may also be spelled as A’sha, Ashaa, Aashaa and Asha.

Below is the name Aasha written in Arabic naskh script:

Below is the same name written in the calligraphic ruʿqah script:

IslamQA: On not speaking to someone for more than three days

Salam, Is it true that according to hadith ones prayer or supplication becomes invalid when you don't speak to a person for more than three days. Many times I have neglected my prayers because I thought that there was no point of continuing. But I don't also understand why my prayers have to be affected to the point of validity if people are immature and don't solve issues by sitting down and communicating.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

There is a narration in Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim in which the Prophet ﷺ says it is not permissible (halal) for a Muslim to stop talking to another for more than three days. The Maliki jurist Ibn Abd al-Barr says:

أجمعوا على أنه يجوز الهجر فوق ثلاث، لمن كانت ‏مكالمته تجلب نقصاً على المخاطب في دينه، أو مضرة تحصل عليه في نفسه، أو دنياه. فرب ‏هجر جميل خير من مخالطة مؤذية .‏

They [i.e. the scholars] have agreed that it is permissible to stop talking to someone for over three days with a person who, if one was to talk to them, this would bring a deficiency in one's faith or a harm in their psyche or their material well-being, therefore perhaps a good avoidance of someone [i.e. avoidance with good intentions] would be better than a mixing that brings harm.1

In other words, what the Prophet meant is that it is not acceptable to intentionally inflict suffering on someone by not talking to them. But if there is a good reason for not talking to them, then that might be fine.

You should not let others affect your relationship with God. If someone tells you something about Islam that sounds like nonsense to you, instead of thinking that God is illogical, you should think that that person has misunderstood Islam, taken something out of context or is following an extremist or literal interpretation that more intelligent scholars do not support.

IslamQA: Dealing with a family who want to marry off a daughter without her consent

Kindly forgive me if what I'm about to ask is uncomfortable in anyway. But I am stricken with grief and anger in my heart. I am aware this is wrong for my soul. But its when things take non-islamically that I feel most stricken with disappointment. My father has without my consent promised me to a family. I am already in love with a muslim man who I believe will help my deen and faith. How can I help myself and my cause. Any dua or insight?

Sorry to hear of that. Have you told him that you do not wish to marry that person? Perhaps talk to your mother and ask her to explain things to your father if you do not want to talk directly to him. If he does not listen to your wishes then you could ask the help of any male relatives you have. And if that does not help, if you live in a Western country there are various agencies who can help, although escalating things this far can seriously damage your relationship with him.

You should seek out all the help you can get from family and friends if necessary and perhaps you will find a peaceful solution. If absolutely necessary, you could even reach out to that family if at all possible and tell them you do not want to marry their son, maybe they will take your wish seriously even if your own family does not. You could ask for a private talk with the man, and during that talk you could tell him you do not want to marry him.

IslamQA: Dealing with betrayal and slander from friends

So I've shared a secret to a friend and said to her she shouldnt tell anyone especially not to person xy.. so what she did was exposing me infront of this person and told him/her everything what I said (the secret wasn't about the person I just wanted to make sure she don't tell it anyone).. she also told other person about it who weren't involved in it.. she blocked me on social media etc.. all this people are talking behind my back and everyone ignores me and possibly hates me for it..

These people are Muslims.. I’m so depressed these days.. can you say what should I do and is this a sign in form of punishment by Allah swt say because of my sins? I’m so confused and sad about it. They won’t listen to me.. I even apologized but they ignores me.. please help me!

All of God’s prophets were lied about, ignored and attacked by their societies, just because it is happening does not mean that it is a punishment. Perhaps it is preparation for something better that will come. Perhaps it is there to help you see who your real friends are and who the shallow and selfish ones are.

God is your protector. Always remember this verse:

That is because God is the protector of the faithful, while the evildoers have no protector. (The Quran, verse 47:11)

If God is your protector, then nothing that happens around you can possibly harm you, even if from appearances the thing is hurtful and upsetting. God is your protector, seek to please Him and forgive and forget those who wish to hurt you.

IslamQA: Getting over an impossible love

I don’t know if this is gonna sound ridiculous/stupid... but I’ve been having feelings for someone for the past 3 years and I can’t seem to get over it, I make dua Everyday asking Allah to strengthen my heart and remove these feelings, I try to keep myself busy with work and worship but at the end of the day I still come back to this , the worst part is that this person is married. I will never act on this feelings but it hurts a lot that I can’t do anything

Everyone’s life seems to contain some unsolvable problems. It can be a chronic illness, poverty, having a disabled child, having an elderly parent that one is forced to take care of, having a grown child who constantly causes problems, having an uncaring spouse, not being able to find someone to marry, etc. Your unsolvable problem appears to be your love for that person.

The main thing to do regarding life’s unsolvable problems is to accept them, to humbly submit to God’s decree and be thankful that things are not worse, and to realize that God could be saving us from many other problems that others suffer from. If our problem is solved, it is quite possible that a new problem may arise in our lives that is just as serious and painful as the one before, and most people’s lives appears to be a story of going from one unsolvable problem to another. This is how this world works, there is no way to achieve permanent peace in it. This world always promises us utopia but never delivers. Regardless of what we accomplish, in a few days or weeks we are always back to square one, always with new problems, worries and discomforts ruining things for us.

The thing to do is to sit back and understand that this is how the world works. We want to create heaven on Earth, but we can never achieve it. It is far better to keep in mind that this world will soon pass and that the comfort and peace we desire can only be achieved in a different world.

One thing you could do that might help you move on is to read a lot of books (50 or more). As you read more and more, your thinking and understanding will change and this can make it easier to get over the past and look forward to the future. You can check out this page on my my site for a list of books to read.

IslamQA: Do Muslims need to make up prayers intentionally missed for years?

I have a question to ask and i don't really know where and whom to ask about it. So, I’ve been neglecting salah for 24 years of my life, I’ve started to pray fully 5x times a day and I’ve been wondering how do i replace all the salah that I’ve been neglecting before. How do i know the numbers to replace, and what should i do? From what i heard, even if you seek for His forgiveness, you still have to pay back all the salah that you’ve missed out. Same goes to fasting.

Short answer: No, you do not need to make up those missed prayers.

The opinion of the founders of the four schools (Malik, al-Shafi`i, Ahmad and Abu Hanifah) is that a Muslim should make up any prayers missed after puberty even if this amounts to decades worth of missed prayers. Their reasoning is that since the prayer is obligatory on every Muslim, a missed prayer is like debt that one has to pay back.

Comparing a missed prayer to debt is known as qiyas (‘analogy’). The Islamic texts do not give us any clear pointers toward whether a person who habitually abandons the prayer should make them all up or not, this is an issue that is never mentioned in the Quran or hadith.

Ibn Taymiyyah rejects the debt analogy and provides a better analogy, that of intentionally missing the Friday prayer. People who intentionally delay the Friday prayer by not performing it in its proper time are not allowed to hold the Friday prayer later on to make up for it. The Friday prayer has a set time and it is only valid during that time.

As for making up missed prayers, according to Ibn Taymiyyah this only applies to cases when one’s daily life is interrupted by something that prevents them from praying in its proper time. Those who intentionally abandon the prayer cannot make it up; they have sinned, and once they repent, they should simply resume a Muslim’s life.

If you miss the Friday prayer intentionally by praying at home, there is no way to make it up, you cannot go to extra Friday prayers since there is no such thing as extra Friday prayers. I think this might be Ibn Taymiyyah’s point regarding the Friday prayer analogy. It appears that in Ibn Taymiyyah’s view the prayer is like a train that you either catch or miss. If you miss it by performing it defectively (such as by praying the Friday prayer at home) or by simply abandoning it, then you miss the train and there is no way to get back on it, since the prayer for each time period belongs to that time period and cannot be prayed outside of it. The noon prayer for March 5, 2018 belongs to a set period in time (say 12:30 PM to 4:00 PM), if one intentionally misses the prayer belonging to this period of history, then there is no way for them to make it up (unless they get on a time machine).

 

Ibn Taymiyyah’s view seems more like common sense and is, of course, far more humane, therefore I prefer it.

Ibn Taymiyyah’s view regarding missed fasts is similar; if the fast is intentionally abandoned, one is not required to make it up.

IslamQA: Can a Muslim woman marry an uncircumcised man?

How if I marry a converted man & he haven't circumcised yet. I mean, I've read it somewhere that u can't get married before circumcised first. Like, can we do the Ijab qabul first & few days after that the husband will be circumcised. Well, people who get circumcised need other people to look after them right? So what I try to say is I want to look after him during the recovery but obv it's haram before the marriage. That's why I want we get married first so I can look after him

Male circumcision is a matter of difference among scholars. The Hanafi and later Maliki opinion, and the opinion of al-Hasan al-Basri, is that it is recommended but not obligatory, while the Shafi`i and Hanbali view is that it is obligatory. According to the modern Egyptian scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, there is no conclusive evidence in Islam to make it obligatory, but that it is close to being obligatory and that it should not be abandoned by a society as a whole.

In your case, you can do whatever is most convenient. Here is an answer from a Mufti in Trinidad and Tobago saying:

Being Uncircumcised does not prevent you from becoming married. There is absolutely no statement that it is haram for a Muslim woman to marry a non circumcised man. When you intend to marry, it is good to tell your spouse that you are not circumcised, so that this does not create problems in your marital relationship.

IslamQA: Avoiding the West’s culture of usury as a Muslim

I figured you'd be the best person to ask about this. I'm a young Muslim adult who's been wondering how to navigate through a usury based society. Unless you end up earning ample amounts of money, it feels like getting mortgages and credit cards are pre-requisites to living a comfortable (or decently comfortable) life here. What can I do to avoid partaking in the usury system while allowing me to live a decent life quality? Any advice or readings on this would be a great help.

We should try to avoid interest (and for-profit insurance) as much as we are able. This is a challenge that each person has to face for themselves; one should do as much as they can, but I wouldn’t say that one should absolutely avoid it all, since that can be too difficult for some people’s faith.

Speaking for myself, for mortgages, I would use an Islamic provider like Guidance Residential if it all possible. For insurance, I would only get insurance that I am legally required to get (such as car insurance). I would avoid using credit cards unless absolutely necessary (for example if I can’t pay rent and can’t get help in other ways).

In my new book A Skeptic’s Quick Guide to Modern Economics I explain how today’s usurious system works. You can also check out Usury in Christendom: The Mortal Sin that Was and Now is Not.

And if you ever have money to invest, you should avoid bonds, including “Islamic” ones that give a fixed rate. One should also ideally avoid all companies that borrow money on interest, which basically means all US public corporations. What remains is to invest in private businesses that do not deal in usury and that give their employees living wages. As far as I know there is no easy way to do this other than finding a business and reaching a private deal with them (giving them $10,000, for example, for a certain share of their profits). There are “Islamic” mutual funds like Azzad and AMANA, but both of these either invest in usurious corporations or in fixed-rate “Islamic” bonds that are not so Islamic after all. What is needed is a mutual fund that invests solely in non-usurious businesses or truly Islamic bonds (backed by real assets and with fluctuating returns). Perhaps as the number of Muslims in the US and Europe increases, such funds will be created. At the moment, if I were wealthy, I would have nothing to do with the utterly corrupt and usurious corporate culture of the West and would do everything possible to create new companies that act more ethically.

IslamQA: Can one read or listen to Quran online without wudu?

Do we have to get ba-wudu even if we reciting or listening Quran online?

There seems to be general agreement that qira’ah (reading/listening to/reciting aloud the Quran) can be done without wudu. The only thing that most agree should not be done without wudu is touching a book of Quran (i.e. a mushaf) (however, the highly respected Shafi`i jurist and hadith scholar al-Hakim al-Nisaburi says that touching a book of Quran without wudu is permissible).

Reading/listening online seems to me to fall under the first category, so I wouldn’t worry about wudu.

Source for first paragraph: Islamweb.net, fatwa #12540.

IslamQA: How do Azhar-educated Muslims end up as terrorists?

I'm just wondering how come some people who graduated from Al-Azhar ended up terrorists? Many of them have founded organisations such as Islamic brotherhood. I thought terrorism breeds as result of ignorance and incorrect knowledge, but since they receive proper ilm, on a scholarly level , then why this result? I can't find neutral books on the topic, either its by an islamophobe or a Muslim who gives one perspective

It is similar to the way that people brought up in Western universities ended up as Marxist terrorists. People who look at the problems suffered by their societies (such as Americans constantly killing good leaders and replacing them with US-approved dictators) end up having intense hatred and resentment for these injustices. In this way they may end up justifying terrorist acts in the name of justice.

The State of Israel was created through various acts of terrorism, such as the massacre of Deir-Yassinthe ethnic cleansing of 700,000 Palestinians, and the King David Hotel bombing.

The terrorism carried out by certain Muslims belongs to the same genre of violent political activism. They believe that the end justifies the means, similar to the way millions of Israelis today believe that having turned Gaza into an open-air concentration camp is justified as long as they themselves stay safe. When it comes to educated Muslims, it does not take any stretch of the imagination to understand that when they see all the injustice and oppression around them, one out of a million may be hot-headed and unhinged enough to end up having a desire for violence in order to put things right. Anyone who blames this on Islam has to explain why the remaining 999,999 Muslims are not terrorists. For more on this see The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists.

Humans have free will, regardless of our knowledge and education, we can always act in ways that go against our background. Just because you know something is wrong or sinful does not necessarily prevent you from doing it, if you desire it enough, or if you are possessed with enough passion (such as anger and hatred against an oppressor), you can do things that go against your education and conscience and that you may later regret.

Most of today’s terrorism does not belong to the above. It is, rather, funded by foreign powers. The United States funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Taliban and al-Qaeda in the 1980′s in order to weaken the Soviet Union, and for all we know they may continue to do so since their terrorist acts justifies the American presence on Russia’s and China’s borders, very useful from a geopolitical perspective. See America’s Wars for the Greater Middle East by Andrew Bacevich, a professor of international relations. The same applies to the Philippines, the only Southeast Asian country that has a major terrorism problem (due to a terrorist organization founded by, unsurprisingly, a former CIA recruit). The Philippines has a major US military presence, as the US considers it crucial to have its bases in that area to threaten China, and terrorism helps justify their presence, as the US military act as helpers and trainers for the Philippines army.

Also see Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq by Stephen Kinzer.

The enlightened Americans have a fine old tradition of supporting terrorists and mass-murderers when it suits their interests. Islamic terrorism therefore falls into two categories. There is organized terrorism, which is invariably associated with foreign intelligence agencies to get funding, arms and training, and there is the much rarer individual terrorists who justify violence to themselves by thinking that they are fighting against oppression.

The Middle East’s murder rates are much lower than those of Latin America, so anyone who thinks Islam promotes violence has to explain why Egypt’s homicide rate is 1.4 per 100,000, while Brazil’s is 27 and Mexico’s 18. If we compare Muslim countries to non-Muslim countries of equal affluence and development, the Muslim countries are always more peaceful. The exceptions, which are given all the attention, are cases like Afghanistan and Syria where the peaceful people of the West have poured billions of dollars funding, arming and training terrorists who are called “freedom fighters” while they serve Western interests (as the Taliban was called in the 1980’s, and as various al-Qaeda-affiliated but US and Saudi-funded groups in Syria are called today).

IslamQA: Is it forbidden in Islam to be friends with a transgender person?

Is it haram to be friends with transgender person? One of my best friends is one and my mom does not approve this even tho I've known this person since childhood. My mom already made me quit friendship with someone else because they did not believe in God. I live in western country and it feels like being friends with anyone is haram. I don't have many friends, only few close ones

You shouldn’t think in terms of halal/haram, but in terms of whether such a friendship is beneficial or harmful to you, to that person, to your families and to the rest of society. If after balancing all of these concerns you believe that more good can be done than harm, then perhaps it is good to continue it. However, you must also take your mother’s wishes into account, Islam recommends that we take our parents’ wishes seriously even if what they ask is ridiculous (i.e. to “humor” them, the way parents humor their children’s wishes).

Very few things in life are haram or halal, most things have a mix of good and bad in them. When it comes to most things in life, Islam only provides general guidance rather than strict instructions. It asks you to be kind, generous, forgiving and dutiful toward your parents and everyone else around you. These mean different things in different situations. People who try to simplify life by calling this and that halal or haram are basically trying to paint life in crayons and have little understanding for the depth and sophistication of the Quran’s teachings.