Abbas Di Palma

as salam alaikum

the Qur'an is a miracle for past, present and future generations and its being in form of a book makes it reachable to every human being. Of course it must be understood and that is why knowledge has been made compulsory in Islam.

Other miracles would have been witnessed only by a group of people. Also, in modern times could have been falsified by the use of technology. On the contrary a book divinely preserved and passed down both orally and scripturally generation after generation do not present such problems.

Similarly, the crucial hadiths necessary for salvation have been passed down through divine providence and tawatur.

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

from a psychological perspective, even the mere presence of a person of the opposite gender have a particular influence that mold behavioral tendencies and attitudes that not necessarily relate to lust. That is also why many Islamic places, and traditional societies in general, always had a specific code to limit promiscuity and social contact between genders. 

There is no problem in dealing with the opposite gender in the prescribed shar'i way and in case of necessity as long as all Islamic etiquettes are observed but one should try as much as possible to move forward what Allah has commanded in all circumstances.

With prayer for your success.

as salam alaikum

if by "little late" is meant that your parents miss the best time for prayer (waqt al-fadilah), meaning just as enters the adhan time, there is no problem in praying at different times as long as everybody prays before sunset. However it would be appropriate to pray Jama'ah and even better to pray Jama'ah at the mosque if there is the possibility.

With prayers of your success.

as salam alaikum

the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence are related to practical laws and therefore they are not directly linked to doctrinal and theological issues (although sometimes we see some affiliations).

Theologically, Sunni schools can be divided in three main branches: Ash'aris, Maturidis and Ahl al-Hadith.

The Sunni-Shia debate have been dealt in different way by different scholars belonging to these branches. Therefore the judgment more often goes back to ulama, or groups of ulama, and not to the schools themselves. Also, it may depends on what Shi'i trend they refer as their judgments may differs from a Shi'i approach or group to another.

We certainly see some Sunnis very staunch against Shi'ism while others are more tolerant. The same goes for the Shias towards Sunnis. So it is prudent not to generalize and analyze single groups and opinions from case to case.

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

if the tunes of the vocals do not resemble those suitable for gatherings of corruption, there is no problem and it is actually encouraged; otherwise it is haram.

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

Yawm al-Qiyamah is not limited to planet earth and its effects as described in the Qur'an will be manifest in the whole universe and everything in it.

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

there are three major fatwas regarding smoking tobacco and cigarettes:

1) It is haram.

2) It is allowed provided that it would not cause substantial harm to your health.

3) It is haram to start but if you are already an habitual smoker it is allowed but you should try to stop, even gradually. 

Overall, it is at least definitely advisable not to smoke.

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

The Qur'an says: "Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him but forgive anything else" (4:48). However  many people who were mushrikin became Muslims and Allah forgave all their past sins. One of the interpretations of the above-mentioned verse is that as long as you are associating something with Allah, you won't be able to go back to Him through tawbah while it is possible if you are committing other sins. 

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

mere single reports from Musnad Ahmad cannot be validated according to Shia view. Also, according to the most accurate opinion any single report (khabar al-wahid) with no external evidences cannot be used to establish doctrinal principles or historical facts. 

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum

many believers that mentions Ali's name during the adhan, do it out of love and later scholars usually says that it is mustahab. However it was not part of the original Adhan and if it is said thinking that it was part of the original Adhan it is almost unanimously considered as an act of innovation (bid'ah).

With prayers for your success.

as salam alaikum 

there is no certainity that single narrations (khabar al-wahid) from al-Kafi, with no external evidence to claim their origin (maqtu'iyyah al-sudur), are in fact from the Imams. Rather what Usuli scholars have said is that we can act according to its authentic narrations (al-sahih minhu), when proofs for it have been established.

There are several criterions to establish what has been said by the Imams but we consider no book of hadith 100% sound under all aspects and all narrations should be subject to rigid scrutiny.

With prayers for your success. 

as salam alaikum

the opinion of the Ahl al-Bayt and the ijma' of their scholars is that sadl (praying without hands folded) should be performed while standing during salat.

Imami sources establish it through several ahadith on the authority of the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt like when Imam al-Sadiq describes the modality of salat to Hammad Ibn 'Isa (see "Man la yahduruhu al-Faqih" by Shaykh Saduq, vol. 1, p. 196).

In Zaydi sources there is a hadith on the authority of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, in the "Manahi" of Ibn Mansur where he stops a man while praying with folded hands saying that this is the way of the prayer of Ahl al-Kitab.

In Sunni sources many scholars of the Malikiyyah and some of the Shafi'iyyah brought forth a sahih hadith from Sunan al-Nisa'i as evidence.

Ibadi sources report an hadith on the authority of the Prophet in this regard (see "al-Idah" by 'Amir Ibn 'Ali al-Shamakhi).

As far as the Qur'an, some scholars have quoted the verse "The believers are successful! Those who have khusu' in their prayers" (23:1-2) and said that praying with folded hands would invalidate the khusu' during salat. Wa Allahu A'lam.

With prayers for your success.