Queries

 

 

Food prepared by Non-Muslims

 

      Question: Does Islam prohibit eating food or tea, coffee, etc. prepared by non-Muslims that are not the People of the Book (Jews and Christians)?

     Answer: Islam prohibits only what is haram. Other than that, everything is halal, though in some cases, certain items may fall in the grey area between halal and haram. It is immaterial if a halal item is made for, or served to you by a Muslim, Christian, Jew, Hindu or anyone else. The Qur’anic verse, which permits to eat the food of bani isra’il, is not making permissible something that was haram; it is only telling Muslims to avail themselves of a possibility, if they desired, which was already there. A similar permission was given in the Qur’an to Muslim men to marry more than one wife. There too, it is not a permission of something that was until then prohibited; it is a mention by way of a reminder of something that was already permitted. The Muslims were only reminded of it.

 

Courtesy:http://www.islamicissues.info/qa_question.php?qid=127

 

 

Difference between a Mushrik and an Ahl-i Kitab

 

    Question: Could you please clarify the difference between a mushrik and an Ahl-i Kitab. When the Qur’an says that Allah will never forgive a mushrik, does it also include some Muslims who, on the one hand, do believe in Allah, but visit Pirs (saints) occasionally for solutions to their problems, etc? Also, please advise me as to how many forms of shirk are there.

    Answer: The Qur’an doesn’t call the Christians mushrik (the polytheists). However, it accuses many of them of doing shirk (polytheism). The reason why the Qur’an doesn’t call the Ahl-i Kitab mushrikun is that, despite their shirk, they claimed that what they were doing was not shirk. In other words, they believed that tawhid was the right point of view, and they did not consider their shirk as going against the requirements of tawhid. The mushrikun of Makkah, on the other hand, claimed that what they were doing was shirk and that shirk is the right religion from Allah Almighty. Therefore, they deserved to be called mushrikun.

The condemnation of shirk in the Qur’an is for all types of shirk, whether done by those who admit that what they are doing is shirk or not. In other words, if an individual is doing shirk, whether he is a mushrik, a Jew, a Christian, or a Muslim, the condemnation of shirk in the Qur’an is applicable to all of them.

Shirkprimarily means ascribing partners to Allah in His physical existence, His attributes, or His rights. For instance, to believe that God has a son, a daughter, or a wife tanatamounts to doing shirk in His physical existence. To believe that like Allah Almighty there is somebody else who knows everything would be considered as doing shirk in His attributes. Likewise, it is only Allah Almighty’s right that He should be worshipped or prayed to. If a person worships somebody else, then he is doing shirk in His rights.

 

Courtesy:http://www.islamicissues.info/qa_question.php?qid=93

 

 

Image of the Prophets as propounded by the Bible

 

     Question: Men of the stature of Noah (sws), David (sws) and Lot (sws) are projected in the Bible as having committed indecency, incest and adultery. These must be lies, but why would the Christians change their scripture to tarnish the images of their holy men and yet, on the other hand, elevate saints and popes as “impeccable”?

     Answer: There is no doubt about the fact that the Biblical allegations against the prophets are lies. The Qur’an informs us about the fact that the prophets were the chosen people of the Almighty because of the highest level of morality they were able to achieve. The Qur’an, for instance, says:

 

These are some of the Prophets on whom Allah bestowed His favours from among the descendants of Adam and of those whom We carried in the Ark with Nuh, and of the descendants of Abraham and Israel, and of those whom We guided and chose. Whenever the Revelations of the Compassionate (Allah) were recited to them, they fell to prostrate and weep. (19: 58)

 

Allah chooses His messengers from among the angels and from among the human beings, for surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing. (22:75)

 

The second verse clarifies that if Allah Almighty chose them for the most significant obligation of prophethood, it was on merit, because He is All-Knowing and All-Seeing.

As for the question, “why Christians accepted the perverted picture of their prophets while they exaggerated the status of their saints”, I can’t say much with confidence. I would trace the origins of this problem in their tendency of following their elders blindly. Once you stop being critical about what the elders have given you in the name of religion, you can accept everything – good as well as bad, without much trouble. It seems that some unscrupulous scholars amongst the Jews deliberately inserted a tarnished image of the prophets so as to be relieved of the tension of expectations from them, which the common man naturally had, given the high standards of morality set by the prophets. In a situation where religious leadership is devoid of true religiosity, the common man can be highly critical of them. The scholars, in such cases, are left with two options: either admit their failings, make a firm resolve to improve or bring down the ideals set by prophets from their lofty status. Some of the earlier Jews, it seems, sadly, opted for the latter option. Religious Jews and Christians of later times believed in divine origins of the entire text. As a result, the Christian world (as well as the Jewish) is divided into two broad groups: those who believe that the entire Bible is God-inspired, and those who believe that there is no truth in the claim that the Bible has divine origins.

It is only the Islamic view of the Bible that makes sense. According to the Islamic understanding, some books of the Bible were most certainly originally from God; however, some of them have undergone changes, because of deliberate manipulation or otherwise.

 

Courtesy:http://www.islamicissues.info/qa_question.php?qid=125

 

 

Does a True Islamic Society exist?

 

     Question: Is there any state in the world which is a true Muslim state, following only the Laws of Islam? If yes, please name it. If no, then how can we tell the non-Muslims what our society, culture and laws are, and where they can be witnessed?

    Answer: Your question suggests that Islamic invitation to non-believers presupposes an ideal Islamic State to convince its addressees. The truth is that although a good Islamic environment is always helpful in convincing many people, it is not an essential precondition for delivering the message. Islamic message is first and foremost based on its beliefs and ethical guidelines. There are fundamental questions about life which every human being no matter wherever he/she lives wants to get answers to. The Islamic message addresses those questions more than anything else. In addition, we do need to have certain norms which are to be followed if the basic presentation of Islam is accepted. Some of those norms are applicable to our individual life and some to our collective life. A non-Muslim is certainly more likely to be attracted towards the Islamic message if there are good examples around, both individual as well as collective. However, the message itself is not dependant upon these examples for its authentication. However, given the fact that we know that God Almighty would take into account the circumstances of an individual while deciding about his/her fate in the Hereafter, in case of those who received the message of Islam in an environment where no good examples were available, He is likely to treat such cases more leniently.

 

Courtesy:http://www.islamicissues.info/qa_question.php?qid=129

 

 

Fate of those who leave Islam

 

     Question: A teacher of mine was a born Christian. He searched for a true religion, and after reading about Islam, he found it to his liking and embraced it. Then, after a while, he reverted. Something similar happened to someone else I know but instead of finding Islam appealing, it didn’t make much sense to him, and so he didn’t become a Muslim. Both people searched for the truth, but I guess only God can judge how much in their hearts they really wanted to be guided. What about the reverted and what will happen to the latter in question? He searched, did his best, didn’t accept Islam on grounds that must have made sense to him and remained a disbeliever. Is he at fault?

    Answer: The general principle which the Qur’an mentions in this regard is that Allah Almighty will make people accountable on the basis of their circumstances and abilities. If someone couldn’t get the opportunity to know the truth in its final form yet he continued to search for it, most certainly he will not be punished for not being able to find it. He is going to be rewarded for the good effort he had undertaken. If, however, on the other hand, it is established beyond doubt that the person knew what the truth was but for one petty reason or the other he declined to accept it then he’ll be punished for rejecting God’s message. Any particular case is of that person who failed to see the truth in the message is something only Allah Almighty, with His unlimited knowledge, can decide. This is exactly what He will do on the day of judgement.

 

Courtesy:http://www.islamicissues.info/qa_question.php?qid=130