Ikram Hawramani's Blog, page 24

She has difficulty resisting masturbation

I am a girl I have suffered from masturbation for a very long time ever since I was a child and I didn't even know what I was doing and yet I was addicted to it as I grew up I tried very hard to abandon this but every month or so I reach a point where I get so overcome I start to think there's nothing really wrong with it so I do it again and then I feel like I'm the worst its become a cycle I repent and I then I do it again at this point I feel too embarrassed to even try to repent what to do

Your ability to resist impulses does not fully develop until the age of 25. If you are younger than that, do your best but realize that you will lose this fight many more times. Rather than feeling guilty about it, every time you masturbate you can make up for it by reading the Quran for an hour, or doing some other act of worship.

Also note that masturbation is not a big issue in Islam, please see my article: Masturbation is not clearly forbidden or allowed in Islam

Is it bad to be reclusive as a Muslim?

Is it bad to be reclusive and not talk to people unless spoken to?

Islam does not ask you to do more than you are able. Some people are simply more reclusive than others. If you can carry out your duties and maintain polite relationships with people then reclusiveness is not an issue. Also note that many great scholars, such as Ibn al-Jawzi, recommended staying away from most people due to their often harmful talk and gossip. He recommends staying at home to read and avoiding going to social gatherings whenever possible in order to focus on reading and learning.

On not regretting a sin

Salaam. Need help & advice. I have sinned and I am sorry in my heart that I’ve displeased Allah swt. But I do not regret committing the sin

On celebrity crushes

What advice would you give someone who has a celebrity crush, is it wrongful? (for extra info I don't have any sort of personal hopes surrounding this like meeting the person in real life - although I do daydream about the person sometimes, nor do I expect whoever I end up with to be like this person.)

We cannot always control our attachments to people, so as long as you carry out your duties, work to maintain a close relationship with God, and you do not let it cause you to sin then that is what matters.

Are the Prophet’s parents in the Hellfire?

I went on Islamq&a, and it lists a hadith where the gist of it was that the Prophet (ﷺ)'s parents will be in the hellfire, is it true?

That hadith is a matter of controversy among scholars. Among scholars who refused to take that hadith literally and believed that the Prophet’s parents PBUH are not in the Hellfire are Abu Ḥanīfa, al-Rāzī, Ibn al-ʿArabi al-Mālikī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Alūsī, Ibn Ḥajar al-Haytamī, Malā ʿAlī al-Qārī and Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalāni.

The Egyptian Fatwa Authority issued a fatwa saying that believing the Prophet’s parents to be in Paradise is the stronger opinion. Hadith critics also considered this hadith to be shādhdh (strange and unusual) and therefore refused to take it seriously.

I conducted a study of all of the existing chains of the hadith, which is shown below:

According to the mathematical hadith verification method (see my essay here), this hadith has an authenticity score of 20.5%, which is below the 30% needed for considering it ṣaḥīḥ (authentic). Any hadith that falls below 30% is not strong enough to be used as proof, especially in matters of controversy.

Therefore the verdict is that the view that the Prophet’s parents PBUH are in the Hellfire is not a strongly-supported view and should not be believed in, especially since it goes against important principles of Islamic theology (that those who do not receive revelation are not held accountable), and since many important scholars rejected the view.

References

Article that summarizes the scholarly views on this question (Arabic PDF)

The difference between kafir and mushrik

Assalamualaikum, i want to ask about the words kaffir and musyrik. Can you tell me what is the difference(s) between those words? Thank you.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

Kafir is a person who knows the truth but denies it. In Islam it refers to a person who has sufficient knowledge and experience to believe in God, but who intentionally disobeys God and even denies His existence.

A mushrik is a person who makes something other than God the object of their faith or worship. A person who worships a statue, or an atheist who puts his faith in science, or a kafir who worships his/her own desires, can all be considered mushriks.

Saying takbirat after the imam is a sunna

Assalamu 'alaykum…I did not know that we are supposed to say takbeer whilst praying behind an imam, is my prayer invalid or is it valid since I did not know? I did say the opening takbeer but I remained silent for the takbeerat that followed. Jazakallahu khayr. I also came home after I found out about this and did sajda sahw.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

Saying the takbirs other than the first one (known as takbīrāt al-intiqāl) is a sunna, not a fard, therefore there is no issue with you not having said them (although a person should not intentionally abandon them). Also note that these takbīrāt al-intiqāl should be said silently (in a whisper), only the imam says them aloud.

References:

Fatwa from the Qatari Fatwa Authority (Arabic PDF)

On Prophet Lot offering his daughters to rapists

In prophet Lot’s story in the Quran , it is said that when his people try to barge in and rape his guests (the angels ), he outright offered them his two daughters to rape instead which is something that I can’t really wrap my head around and can’t understand why it would be in any way considered better than the alternative and why the Quran would even mention that ?

Prophet Lot was obeying the tribal rule of hospitality that requires a person to treat guests better than they treat their own family. He was also perhaps considering homosexual rape to be worse than heterosexual rape. For more on this please see this previous answer: Did God destroy the People of Lot for rape instead of homosexuality?

On avoiding wasting time

Assalam alaykum. I have a problem with wasting time, and I always say to my self “let me just finish this episode, and then i’ll Read Quran”. I use too much time in social media, and i’m not motivated at all. I want to be motivated, so I can be exited to read Quran, and to increase my knowledge. I hope you can help me. Jazakum Allah khair.

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

The lack of motivation can be due to a medical condition such as ADHD or depression, and without the right medications it may not be possible to have motivation for a person who suffers from such conditions. Another issue is impulsivity; people younger than 25 have not completed their brain development and are less able to manage their time, but once they get older they get better control.

Unfortunately I do not know of any solution for these issues. You can find many articles on the Internet for avoiding procrastination and being productive, but I doubt the efficacy of the solutions they provide.

Can non-Quraysh be a leader of Muslims?

Assalamualaikum I would like to know if a non-Quresh can become a leader of the Muslims

Alaikumassalam wa rahmatullah,

There are a few hadiths that say the caliphate is only for Quraysh. But since the caliphate no longer exists and since there is no strong evidence that it is obligatory on Muslims to have a caliphate, this is no longer relevant. The leader of a Muslim state can be from any tribe or ethnicity.