IslamQA: The foundations of morality in Islam: Reason or revelation?

Salaam. Can I say that religion is one of human needs, and that is to attain inner peace? As for how human beings live on the earth, we are free to make our own rules on how to regulate our people. I know from an Islamic religious group that human should not make their own […]

Why People Dislike Middleman Minorities: A Fix for Thomas Sowell’s Blind Spot

On most days of Ramadan, fasting makes it impossible for me to do my usual programming and writing work. For this reason I spent most of the daytime hours of this Ramadan reading books, finishing over 20 books (mainly audiobooks). For years I have been aware of Thomas Sowell as perhaps the greatest living African […]

IslamQA: Can a Muslim woman have male friends? The Islamic view of having friends of the opposite sex

Salam. I have a question over boy friends? Is it okay to have friends who are boys and you know that they won’t do anything with you or take your guys friendship over the line? Or should we Muslim girls have no friends who are boys? Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, There are no texts in the […]

IslamQA: Do Muslims believe in establishing a caliphate?

Salaam. Many ulema in Indonesia agreed that the Caliphate is one of Muslim obligation to be established, while I’ve read your essay that you do not agree on the re-establishment of the Caliphate. Your essay mentions only for the Western, that it do not need a Caliphate. Does your thoughts and opinion also applied to […]

The Road to Maturity: On Dealing with Life’s Unsolvable Problems

Every person’s life seems to contain problems that have no solution. Such problems can last for years, even decades. Among such problems are: Poverty: A person’s life may be denied many joys and contain many indignities brought about by poverty. Having a disabled child: An otherwise happy and wealthy couple may be force to worry […]

IslamQA: On Islamic Manners Toward Parents

What if there is something your parents want you to do and it doesn’t please you despite of dropping clear signs they refuse and claim that they know what’s best for you. Are you supposed to take a stand or leave it on Allah? As Muslims, our default mode of interaction with our parents should […]

The two salvations: How erotic beauty is a false category of beauty

In his 2009 book Beauty, the wonderful British philosopher Roger Scruton says many insightful things about beauty. His book inspired me to create my own Islamic theory of aesthetics in which I assert that a beautiful thing is nothing other than that which brings us face-to-face with God. The reason that the most beautiful and picturesque […]

IslamQA: Do the consequences of other people’s sins affect us?

Aselam Alaikum, hope your well in shaa Allah. In Islam does the consequences of another persons sin, affect oneself? My aunt, who has been very absent, rude and hating towards my family and I, and disowned us for years, has now fallen ill. And out of all, I have ended up being the one taking […]

An Islamic Examination of Homosexuality as an Identity

Our society trains us to think in a certain way (“If you disagree with me, then you’re hateful!”) and imposes limiters on our minds as we quote back popular talking points (“Love is love!”) without always examining them first or showing a willingness to consider different arguments. So I’m writing today, not as some moral […]

IslamQA: Dealing with intrusive family members

My parents and siblings ask way to many questions about my life, sometimes finding out way more than they need. What should I do? It’s bothering me. Sometimes I feel like I have no privacy or that they give me no space. The relationship sometimes feel nonreciprocal as well, for example they do not always […]

IslamQA: The Islamic ruling on dyeing hair (for men and women)

Summary: Dyeing the hair is permitted in Islam as long as pure black is avoided. Dark shades are permitted. Beginning of translated fatwa from IslamOnline Question: Is it permissible for a man to dye his hair when it becomes gray? What about a woman? It mentioned in a hadith of the Prophet PBUH [that he […]

On the evolution of language

Languages evolve or devolve until they reach the state of minimum energy consumption necessary for its speakers to conduct their affairs. Low IQ descendants of speakers of English will quickly lose most of their vocabulary and complex grammatical structures if they end up on an isolated island for generations. While the complexity of the language […]

IslamQA: The stance of mainstream Sunni Islam on Sufism: Can you be Sunni and Sufi at the same time?

Salaam alaykum I’m a Sunni sister, and I’ve recently come across Sufism and Islamic mysticism. I’m very much interested in learning about Sufism but there are debates on this whole ‘Sunni-Sufi’ thing, I’m confused and I’m trying to ask everyone of their opinion and know if what I’m doing is right or wrong. Could you […]

Beauty as Pointer: An Islamic Theory of Aesthetics

There is something special about beauty, as has been recognized by philosophers in the recent centuries. If someone says the above piece of architecture is ugly, I would judge them either liars or somehow morally corrupt. When we appreciate beauty, we feel morally uplifted. This is very strange. Why should appreciating some design have any […]

IslamQA: How to balance worldly goals and religious goals?

How to balance worldly life and deen? I have a lot of personal worldly and spiritual goals. But sometimes I feel I give too much time to either my worldly or spiritually side. I end up confused and end up not “working” on any of it at all. Any advice? Sorry if it’s too confusing […]

IslamQA: She caught her divorced sister cheating with a married man

Asalam Alaikum. My sister is a divorced. I have sadly found out my sister has a haram relationship with a married man. The mans wife is both my sisters and I very good friend so I could not believe my sister would do this to her. I’m so sad. What should I do? Tell my […]

IslamQA: Dealing with people looking down on housewives

Peace be upon you, I am a Muslim woman living in the West who someday hopes to become a housewife and stay-at-home mom; it’s something I’m heavily inclined towards. I’ve been feeling dejected and humiliated about it since even my well-guided religious relatives look down on me for it and others saying I’ll become a […]

IslamQA: On the Shia and their fate according to Sunni Islam

What are your views on Shia and their beliefs? And are they among the 70+ sects that are doomed? First, the notion of the “72 doomed sects” is false, as I explain here. It is based on fabricated evidence. As for the Shia, I believe that anyone who believes in God and His Books and […]

IslamQA: On unanswered prayers, and is it normal for a Muslim to doubt God’s existence?

As a Muslim is it normal to ever doubt Allah’s existence? I pray 5x daily and have completed Umrah, but i feel like my prayers have never been answered. That’s normal, and that is why faith is rewarded. We are supposed to believe in God without having physical proof of His existence. Believing in God […]

IslamQA: Pakistan’s behind-the-times Islam

I am a Muslim woman and I don’t psychologically feel ready for marriage. But my mother who is Pakistani is telling me that what I’m doing is haram. She told me that apparently Bin-Baz said that every woman should get married regardless of their doubts. But Islam itself tells us that marriage isn’t obligatory. How […]

IslamQA: Why did God let His scriptures (the Torah and the Gospels) become corrupted?

Why did Allah allow other books beside Quran to be changed by man like the Torah, gospel and bible? It was his own sacred word too when they were revealed and they were still his words so why did he allow that to happen? Why they became secondary when at one point they were the […]

IslamQA: Should Islam and politics mix or not?

I am a Muslim but my personal opinion is that politics and Islam shouldn’t mix. The living examples of this are Muslim countries. I am not saying by any means that democracy is better, God knows how many people have died in the name of secular democracy. Although I know that the original intention and […]

IslamQA: Skepticism and critical thinking in Islam

Salaam. Brother, as a young person in her mid 20’s, I wanted to ask for your advice. I’ve grown up in a way that my parents never taught me lessons about life and I got to experience it myself at first-hand. It made me a quiet person, but observant. Somewhere at my early 20’s, I […]

How lenders contribute to decreasing native populations in industrialized nations: Housing prices, wages, interest and low fertility rates

The following chart from a BBC article (archived link) shows how home prices in the UK increased much faster than wages between 1975 and 2005. If you ask “Why are wages not increasing fast as home prices?” you are asking the wrong question. What we are seeing above is a literal land grab enabled by […]

An Islamic answer to Sam Harris and other deniers of free will

This article is an Islamic answer to Sam Harris and those who follow in his tracks. Below is a video that shows the dynamics of the free-will-denying discourse; the way it uses a collection of scientific facts to leap to the conclusion that there is no room for free will: The main argument of the […]

IslamQA: Can you perform the prayer (salah) according to the Quran alone?

Assalamualaikum,I want to start namaz,but I want to make my namaz according to the Qur’an,I am not one that fits the sects,only the Qur’an, Allah and the Prophet.I see as my guide,the Quran is not mentioned very clearly from namaz, the number of rakats and prayers to be read is not said.So that’s mean that […]

IslamQA: A Muslim’s view of climate change

What are your thoughts on climate change? I feel like a lot of the warnings of how climate change will affect the world is similar to the way the End is predicted in Islam. The drying up of the river, earthquakes, a large wildfire driving away people. This question was prompted after reading your optimistic […]

IslamQA: Losing hope in life due to depression

Assalam Alaikum, recently the experiences I’ve been going through made me realise this life is worth nothing, and so I yearn for the end of it. My question is, is this a good or bad thing? The saying “everything passes” has become my life’s standard but subconsciously this has stopped me from looking forward to […]

The Closing of the Muslim Mind and the Decline of Islamic Civilization

A response to Robert R. Reilly’s book The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist Crisis. Last I year I published then took down an early version of this essay. This is the updated version (also published as chapter 3 of my book An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Understanding Islam […]

IslamQA: What to do if certain Quranic verses and hadith narrations sound harsh or illogical to you

Hi! i’m trying to read the quran in my language to understand and apply to my life. but it comes harsh to me. i don’t want to be disrespectful to Quran but some things even look ridiculous. same goes for the hadidths and so. the more I try to learn I get distanced. I already […]

Import and play your own audiobooks on the Amazon Fire Phone

[Update: I now recommend using these steps to install the Google Play Store (which does not “root” the device and does not cause any permanent changes), then buying the highly rated Listen Audiobook Player (which has up to 3x playback speed with pitch correction and a slider that shows your place in the book and […]

A Selection from Aqiday Mardia of Mawlawi Tawagozi by Baba Ali Qaradaghi

Mawlawi Tawagozi (1806-1882, known simply as Mawlawi in Kurdish) was an Islamic mystic and one of the great poets of Kurdistan, belonging to the Hawrami minority that I belong to. This book is a 160-page commentary on a small selection of Mawlawi’s 2450-verse poem Aqiday Mardia (The Approved Aqeedah), which tries to offer a journey through the field […]

IslamQA: Are student loans, mortgages and credit cards haram in the West?

Are student loans haram? what if one is unable to pay for school? are credit cards/mortgages in the West haram? Yes, they are all haram unless a person is unable to avoid them. Ideally a Muslim who is able should avoid all of them. They fall on a spectrum when it comes to how bad […]

IslamQA: Wiping over socks to avoid frostbite from ablution

Brother, I get frost bite on my toes in winters so I have not been washing my feet while performing ablution since grade 9 (Only In winters). Is my act right or wrong? Also I miss prayers cux of cold weather nowadays so tell me how can I get motivation to offer prayer regularly in […]

IslamQA: Islam and the legalization of recreational drugs

I really love your blog, keep up the amazing work! I have been researching about the dealings of the mafia in various countries, and came to the conclusion (after thorough research) that legalizing all kinds of drugs is the best way to eradicate a big part of the mafias (to remove one of their main […]

The Unleashed Thunderbolts of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya by Yasir Qadhi

A review of Shakh Yasir Qadhi’s paper “‘The Unleashed Thunderbolts’ of Ibn Qayyim al-Ǧawziyyah: An Introductory Essay.” This 2010 paper by Yasir Qadhi is a study of Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya’s al-Ṣawāʿiq al-mursala ʿalā al-Jahmīya wa-l-Muʿaṭṭila (The Unleashed Thunderbolts against the Jahmites and the Negators [of Divine Attributes]). I will focus on Ibn al-Qayyim’s positions as […]

IslamQA: Can Muslims celebrate Valentine’s Day and Halloween?

I’m asking bc Halloween and I think Valentine’s Day have pagan beginnings and I wasn’t sure if it would mean you are participating in paganism In my opinion the origins of these celebrations does not matter. What matters is what the celebration means today. A hundred of million Iranian Muslims, Sunni and Shia, celebrate Nowruz […]

IslamQA: Islamic Strategies for Escaping a Sinful Life

19 year old boy here. It’s a serious issue but I’ll keep it short. I was exposed to pornography at a very young age and I still haven’t been able to get over it. And then came the time when I could mingle with the opposite sex and actually do things and since then I […]

IslamQA: Father wants to prevent them from going back to school

assalamu aleikum, my situation is a little difficult, i dropped out of school a few years back because of my immaturity and ignorance and now finally after a difficult year i have a chance to go back but my father seems reluctant, he always dismisses me when i mention it and i fear that he […]

IslamQA: How to focus better when praying (performing salah)

Assalamualaikum. I’m a PhD student & often my research leads to complicated problems which keep coming into mind during my non-working activities & even in my salah. When I catch my mind drifting into my research problem I quickly say istighfar & focus on salah again, but then it keeps happening. Sometimes I can’t even […]

The Atonement by William Lane Craig

I became interested in the Christian theologian William Lane Craig after reading Jacobus Erasmus’s The Kalām Cosmological Argument: A Reassessment, a 2018 book that reconsiders Craig’s views on this argument for God’s existence and tries to strengthen it. I was surprised by just how strong this argument is, although it does not reach the level […]

IslamQA: Her abusive parents make her feel depressed

Assalamu aleikum, for several years i have been feeling like a burden and a problem to my parents. they never support or show love and admiration for anything me or my sisters do, they’re always scared that we’re going to ruin their reputations and have absolutely zero respect for us, the degrading things they’ve told […]

IslamQA: Parents will not let him marry his chosen

Please can you advice me. There is a guy who wants to wants to marry me and my parents are OK with it but his parents are forcing him to marry his cousin instead. He already tried to talk to his parents many times, to convince to at least meet my family (his parents don’t […]

An Introduction to the Origins of Modern Islamic Terrorism

Were the Soviet Union to sink tomorrow under the waters of the ocean, the American military-industrial establishment would have to go on, substantially unchanged, until some other adversary could be invented. Anything else would be an unacceptable shock to the American economy. —George F Kennan, American Cold War diplomat and father of “Containment Theory” Introduction A […]

IslamQA: On deciding which madhhab to follow and the multi-madhhab approach

Do you hold certain school or mahdhab in Islam? If so, which one? Also, how do you pick one of them, or you don’t pick one at all and just go with what’s acceptable for you? Thank you. The concept of the madhhab is somewhat outdated because scholars are starting to have a multi-madhhab approach. […]

IslamQA: What is there to do if you suffer because someone you love is far away from God?

Assalamualaikum… what should I do if I care so much about someone’s relationship with Allah ‪ﷻ‬ that it brings me depression because that someone is too far away from Him? I’m trying to help but I can’t, and I can’t bear this sadness either. Should I keep trying or should I take a step back? […]

IslamQA: Balancing materialism and fatalism

Do we as Muslims count on what is written/ decreed by Allah for us, and not worry about anything? Or do we ourselves need to take action due to the free will granted to us by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala, even if that might involve risk? My question is, to what extent do we take […]

IslamQA: Avoiding negative assumptions about people

Assalamualaikum. I hope you’re doing well. I want to ask something about making assumptions especially negative ones. How can I avoid from making this assumption and why exactly I am making all of these negative assumptions. I can’t seem to understand and can’t figure it out. If you can help me with this problem I […]

IslamQA: She keeps dreaming of a particular man she likes

Salam. I’m in a difficulty. I dreamt about him for about 6 times and he’s the one that I dreamt the most compared to anyone that I know. We’re friends but we’re not close anymore. We don’t even talk anymore. But he still appears in my dream. Even when I don’t think about him on […]

IslamQA: Why must women pray behind men at the mosque?

Why must women pray behind men? Why is it that in Pakistan women have the worst place to pray when we need to pray in public and/or in the masjid? And also, why must men and women be separate in public? Isn’t that inconvenient? What is the wisdom behind all of this? The wisdom in […]

IslamQA: When does religious belief become toxic?

In what condition does a religious belief becomes dogmatic and toxic to its follower? When a person thinks that Islam is meant to replace their humanity. Below is an excerpt from my book An Intelligent Person’s Guide to Understanding Islam and Muslims on this question. George Orwell and George Eliot George Orwell, in his Road to Wigan Pier, […]

IslamQA: Struggling with materialism as a Muslim

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah, ive recently been struggling with materialism and its making me miserable. at school everyone i see seems to be either smarter, prettier, richer, or more pious than me and thats been distracting me a lot. i havent read salah or quran as often recently and i keep thinking about changing myself […]

IslamQA: Loving someone but sexually desiring another person

Asalam Walikum, I have an issue. I feel that I can’t stop having these intimate desires for this person, I can’t stop feeling hormonal about it. I do like someone else but I like that person romantically not sexually. I do fear that if I end up with that someone else I’ll still have sexual […]

IslamQA: Why Islam does not have a specific punishment for rape

Why does God frown upon consensual sex before marriage more than rape? I’ve done some research and haven’t found anything about rape. Many don’t even validate rape and equates it to normal sex . The only hadith I stumbled on about a woman who had been raped (in this case it was referred as forced zina). […]

IslamQA: Answers about Islam and misogyny

Hey assalamu alaikum I’ll forward some messages here from previous conversations with someone who gave me worse explanations Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, I broken up your question to address them individually. there’s something called child support he pays money to support his family not to pay his supposed to be wife I feel worse about myself […]

IslamQA: “Why are Muslims so judgmental? Muslim men’s expectations of women are too high.”

Why are many Muslims so close minded and judgmental. I feel like I can’t keep it up. The expectations (especially from Muslim men) is way too high. Sometimes I feel like giving up . Especially the issue of modesty etc I don’t feel like we are being given the space and time and freedom to […]

Medieval Female Mystics of Islam

A review of Arezou Azad, “Female Mystics in Mediaeval Islam: The Quiet Legacy.” (Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 56 (2013) 53-88). Andrea Cabrera The article, “Female Mystics in Medieval Islam: the Quiet Legacy” was written by Arezou Azad, who is a Leverhulme Research Officer of the Oriental Studies Faculty at […]

A guide to using PHP to download Google Drive files selected by users in the Google Drive Picker

Let’s say you’ve managed to get the Google Drive JavaScript Picker API to work, and have also managed to coerce your users into logging into the Picker and selecting one of their files: And you have verified that the onSelect function works properly: function initGoogleDrivePicker() { var picker = new FilePicker({ apiKey: api_key, clientId: client_id, […]

IslamQA: On nail polish and ablution

As-salamuʿalaykum, I recently i have come across Dr. Shabir Ally’s thoughts on the nail polish dilemma on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOpxO_ISJQ4). I’m inclined towards his reasoning for it but would like to know your take on his opinion too if possible. Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, I watched the video but unfortunately he did not say anything new on […]

How cyber pirates anonymously torrent movies on the internet

For my views on Internet piracy see my essay: Why Digital Piracy is Ethical and Necessary We all know that you, as a law-abiding citizen, would never download a car. And yet there are people out there who download movies for free and refuse to add a few more bucks to the billions of dollars that […]

IslamQA: On Muslims working for companies that deal with interest

I just wanted to ask you since my major is economy and some jobs involves working with the interest rate especially if it’s a firm that works with lending money. Can I still work with them? There’s a lot of competition here in this country regarding this major so saying no to a job means […]

IslamQA: What should one think about during salah?

Assalamu alaikum! I know you are supposed to focus and have “khushoo” during prayer, but what exactly are you supposed to think about? Are you supposed to focus on reciting and performing the steps properly? Are you supposed to think about Allah? If so, what exactly are you supposed to think about regarding Allah? Sorry […]

IslamQA: Why men and women have different gender roles in Islam

Salam, I have question about equality between men and women. Islam acknowledges equality when it comes to spirituality, sins etc. but then in marriage wife has to obey her husband despite the fact that it’s supposed to be equal companionship, not superior and inferior relationship since men and women have equal intellectual capability to think […]

IslamQA: A Muslim who wants to only follow the Quran due to the contradictions in Hadith

Selam I come from Sunni tradition. As I try to do more in relation to my faith I have tried to learn obout history of islam. I am becoming more interested in being Quaran only muslim. I have big problem with hadiths. So many contradictions to Quran. They almost complicate relationship with God. They almost […]

IslamQA: On how to stop masturbating

Assalamu alaikum, can i ask on how to stop masturbating? Ive tried and stopped for a week, but then i accidentally started again. Repetitively failing to control myself had me felt useless, and ive starting to lose hope with myself. Thank you for your consideration. Your ability to control your impulses only matures after the […]

IslamQA: How do you know the person is the one you should marry?

How do you know the person is the one you should marry? It’s just that there are so many options and I don’t want to regret this major decision that is going to change my life. There is no criterion that you can use to know with absolute certainty who the right person is. So […]

IslamQA: How to learn Quranic Arabic

Assalamualaikum. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to learn Arabic in the Qur’an? I already know how to read the Arabic, but since I want to understand deeply about Qur’an maybe you have learning methods which you can suggest. Jazakallah brother Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah, You may be interested in my book Learning Quranic […]

Does God really laugh? A study of the hadiths on God’s laughter

A review of Livnat Holtzman’s article “Does God Really Laugh? Appropriate and Inappropriate Descriptions of God in Islamic Traditionalist Theology.” There are a few hadith narrations that mention the laughter of God, which is something not mentioned in the Quran. One of the best-known hadiths mentioning God’s laughter is the following from Abū Hurayra: So […]

IslamQA: Is supermarket cheese halal? How to find halal cheese

Assalamualaikum what is your preferred opinion on whether cheese is halal or haram? I’ve read online that during the manufacturing process rennet can become mixed in with the cheese and therefore it is doubtful? It’s very hard to confirm with companies if that happened and also I read one opinion that said the companions ate […]

Shah Waliullah on the Art of Being Knowledgeable

The religion of Islam, perhaps more than any other religion, is characterized by its emphasis on scholarship (daneshmandī دانش مندی  in Farsi/Urdu), on the acquiring of knowledge (ʿilm) and wisdom (ḥikma), and on the sharing of knowledge through education (Rosenthal, 2007). The responsibility of the education (taʿlīm) of mankind is taken up by Allah [swt] […]

IslamQA: Is it wrong to judge a friend for their behavior?

I found out my best friend (for quite some time) had an affair. It was VERY physical and Also used to consume alcohol. My friend lied to me. I got really hurt. I know if i confront, my best friend would justify it by saying that it is not my issue it’s their life. Apart […]

IslamQA: What to do if all the negative coverage of Islam and online Islam-bashing affects you

I’m from India and I see a lot of negativity towards Islam and it saddens me very much. Filthy comments made about Islam and people who practice Islam. I usually do not indulge in such arguments/comments because there is no point but it effects me. Please help Jazakallah khair That is a promise of the […]

An Islamic defense of free speech (a critique of Ziauddin Sardar’s views on Rushdie’s Satanic Verses)

I have had Ziauddin Sardar’s Desperately Seeking Paradise: Journeys of a Sceptical Muslim since 2010, but I only got around to reading it recently. This is one of the funniest books written by a Muslim, rivaling the books of Turkey’s Aziz Nesin. In what is perhaps my favorite scene of the book, Sardar camps out in […]

The 12-Year Min-Max Average: A Simple Method for Calculating Real, Legitimate Economic Growth and Canceling Out Central Bank Manipulations and other Noise

Introduction Real economic growth is different from the increase in GDP that comes from monetary expansion. The 12-year min-max method that I have come up with is a way of calculating a country’s GDP growth rate over a 12-year period that aims to cancel out “fake” growth caused by monetary expansion and boom-bust cycles by […]

IslamQA: On dealing with anti-Muslim parents and siblings as a convert

I’m a convert and my relationship with my Mother and her husband has been horrible lately. When we meet they only talk about how Islam is evil and I’m in the wrong path. They openly look for anything bad to say, especially about my husband. Recently my younger sister even went through my phone when […]

IslamQA: Suicide and self-harm in Islam

This is a sensitive but also important topic. I remember at my lowest and my worst, needing to connect myself to Allah. It was during college . I was dealing with clinical depression, I also had PTSD. I was extremely suicidal, and I had been self-harming since years. I knew little about Islam, so I […]

IslamQA: Is it haram to have a platonic boyfriend or girlfriend?

Is having a boyfriend haram? But you don’t do anything haram with him. You just label each other as boyfriend/girlfriend but treat each other as best friends without doing anything haram The right question to ask is: “Does it please God and my family to have a boyfriend/girlfriend, is it beneficial to my own soul, […]

IslamQA: Did Abraham’s wife Sarah laugh at the destruction of Lot’s people?

Did Allah grant Isaac and Jacob to Sarah because she was happy that the People of Lut would be destroyed? Why did then prophet Ibrahim not react same way but Allah SWT still didn’t say anything bad about his reaction when they are two opposite reactions? The reason for Sarah’s laughter is not given in […]

IslamQA: Is it better to delay salah until you are in the mood for it?

Which one is better: delaying salah until we do it in the mood or forcing ourselves to salah and feel compelled to do it? And why? I would say doing it as soon as the time comes in is better because the Quran says: The prayer is a timed obligation upon the believers. The Quran, […]

IslamQA: Dealing with Sufism making you feel arrogant and superior

Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Thank you in advance for answering the questions. Last year I learned about tasawwuf & was immediately hooked. The problem now is lately I’ve been feeling rather self-righteous & troubled that other doesn’t have the same ‘in-tasawwuf’ way of thinking. I feel this is a sign of arrogance and try […]

IslamQA: On being in Paradise and not feeling negative emotions

Hi, i don’t remember where i learned this from but as far as i know, when a believer enters jannah, all the bad and unpleasant wishes will be removed from them. Isn’t that means we are not gonna be fully ourselves? Why we can’t fulfill our wishes as who we are there? Why can’t we […]

IslamQA: Dealing with heartbreak

Assalamu alaykum. I am dealing with significant heartbreak. I had been dating a Muslim Lebanese American woman for two years. I am Anglo American and converted to Islam. We had discussed spending our lives together and getting married, but her family disapproved as I am not Lebanese. Her mother made her decide between continuing with […]

IslamQA: Overcoming doubts on becoming Muslim

‏السلامعليكم! I have been considering taking shahada for almost 10 years now, yet there’s always something that seems to be holding me back. My values and beliefs are inherently Islamic-influenced and I have read and understood the Qur’an multiple times as independent study. I’m just unsure of what’s holding me back and making me apprehensive. […]

IslamQA: Getting tattoos as a Muslim

Dear Mr.Ikram Hawramani Salam brother, i hope you find the question in good health. I have benefited from some of your blog post and i find that you have a poetic way of explaning things so here i am asking for your advice. To put in perspective i am 19 years old and i have […]

IslamQA: Why can’t Muslim women lead prayers?

Assalamu walaikum. I have a debt, I read here, that for important reasons a woman can lead prayers at home to her family members, but why can’t she in mosques? Why aren’t there women leading prayers inside mosques? (I know there are many men guiding prayer, but wanted to know about women on this spiritual […]

IslamQA: Islam’s theory of free will versus physical determinism: Why humans are responsible for their actions even though God operates the universe

In your essay “God, Evolution and Abiogenesis,” you said an atom has no power to move on its own. It is God who has to move every single thing that moves in this world. Given that, does that mean we don’t have free will? On the atomic level, it is due to the chemical reactions […]

IslamQA: If God loves us, why does He allow us to suffer?

Lately this hasn’t been making sense to me – I am at a low place in my life where I have no emotional relationships at all and I don’t feel needed/wanted. So when I turn to Islamic advice, I keep reading things along the lines of “You need to pray more because you need God, […]

IslamQA: On getting close to Allah

Assalamualaikum How can we get closer to Allah? I was am a firm believer in Allah and I follow almost all Islamic duties except praying all five times (due to laziness) . I know it’s very important to pray but whenever I resolve to pray regularly I do so just for a few days and […]

IslamQA: When life’s difficulties cause you to doubt God

Salaam, I feel like everything in my life seems to be going wrong. I am losing my faith in Allah and his plan for me. I am a good and genuine person, all I want is to build for my future etc, I cannot find a job although I have two good degrees, I started […]

IslamQA: Dealing with an eating disorder (and other mental conditions) as a Muslim

i wanted to bring this topic up since its not really spoken that much in the Muslim community. I’ve had an eating disorder for a year now and its honestly changed me as a person. I’ve prayed many times but i still feel regret after eating and it doesn’t help with a family who don’t […]

IslamQA: Did God intend for Satan to not bow down to Adam? Why did He let it happen?

Since we are talking about evil and it’s origins, do you feel that God had intended iblis to not bow to adam? And did evil exist before happening of that event? And if god did intend him to not bow, why did he let it happen? I believe that God set it all up knowing […]

IslamQA: She is engaged to someone but wishes to marry someone else

1 Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatu. I am facing a very difficult dilemma at the moment. A few months ago, a cousin of mine asked for my hand in marriage. I was extremely shocked because I never thought of him in that way and I didn’t know he felt anything for me either but apparently he’s liked […]

IslamQA: How to be kinder and more polite to family members

I keep being rude to my mother. How do I stop this habit? She always says things that make me angry even though I know she’s right. I’ve apologised to her so many times and I ask God for help but nothing is changing. It is natural to be rude and impatient with people close […]

IslamQA: The morality and immorality of sexual fantasies

Sexual fantasies is not the same thing as having a “wet dream” where you are literally asleep and can’t control your dreams. To fantasise means your are leading your thoughts to imagine and visualise and thus stimulate yourself. To entertain such thinking is not moral and thus not normal or healthy. Instead of answering hormones […]

IslamQA: The hadith on the re-establishment of the Caliphate is unauthentic

There is a hadith in the Musnad of Imam Ahmad (no. 18596) that is used by Islamist parties and terrorist groups to justify their ideologies: Prophethood will remain amongst you as long as God wills that it remain and then he will remove it when He intends to remove it. Then there will be the Caliphate […]

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