Obligations: Of a daughter Q413 :May I ask about the duties of a daughter towards a mother, who very frequently gets into fits of temper and abuses her for no reason. When this becomes very frequent, it has very depressing effect. One feels one’s unimportance very keenly and gets black thoughts. A413 : Every child,…
Obligation and duty [fardh and wajib] Q412 :What is the difference between fardh and wajib? A412 : The two terms fardh and wajib are very close in meaning. Nevertheless there is an important difference between them when they occur within the context of Islamic worship. In order to appreciate the difference, perhaps we should give…
Objecting and avoiding embarrassment Q411 :I was once invited to a dinner by a friend of my sister-in-law. I noticed that the cutlery were made of silver, while the plates were trimmed in gold. I whispered my objection to my sister-in-law. Because she was a very intimate friend of our hostess, she went to the…
Obedience to parents and their order to divorce Q410 :Since I came to work in Saudi Arabia, my father has been writing me asking to divorce my wife on grounds that she does not obey his orders. He says that unless I obey him and divorce her, I will not be allowed to enter his…
Obedience as an aspect of worship Q409 :There is much confusion and contradiction among scholars in our country over the meaning of worship, or ‘ibadah’. Some argue that ibadah means as an act of worship only, such as prayers, fasting, etc. and the word does not have any connotations of obedience. Others maintain that the…
Noah’s ark Q408 :How big was Prophet Noah’s ark in order to accommodate samples of all species? How could it carry pairs of all types of creatures from all over the world? A408 : The divine instruction to Prophet Noah was to carry on the ark a pair of every species. Certainly the Prophet Noah…
Neckties in prayer Q407 :Some of my friends maintain that it is forbidden to wear a necktie, particularly in prayer. Is it true? A407 : No, that is not true. I know that this sort of thing is frequently said, and that some people suggest that the original idea of wearing a necktie was that…
Necklace with Arabic writing Q406 :I have just come back from Malaysia where some ladies informed me on seeing my necklace which bears my name in Arabic, that they were told not to wear theirs because Arabic is the language of the Qur’an. Wearing such a necklace with Arabic writing and then going about to…
Natural disasters: Are they punishment or “ghazab” ? Q405 :Can we say that frequent occurrences of natural disasters such as floods and cyclones are manifestations of Allah’s anger with some people and He punishes them with these disasters? As it is understood from the Qur’an, when Allah chooses to inflict a collective punishment on some…
Nationalism: Muslim fighting for his non-Muslim country Q404 :Does Islam believe in nationalism? If a Muslim serves in the army of his non-Muslim country, and a war breaks out between his country and a Muslim state, will he be considered a martyr if he fights and dies for his country? A404 : A Muslim only…
