Life

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I have heard that, over time, hell will be emptied and people will be introduced to paradise. In this case, why should we worry about sins in this life if in the end our souls will still enter paradise?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 1 month ago

When there is a possibility and a certainty, it is better to plan for the certainty.

The certainty is that hell exists. The possibility is that people might leave it.

Better to be careful! :)

Hell . Paradise . Life . Sin . Soul

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answer updated 1 month ago

1. Enemies of Allah (SWT) will remain in hellfire forever as we read in Quran, Sura 41, Verse 28: That is the recommence of the enemies of Allah; the Fire, therein will be for them the eternal place, a recommence for that they used to deny Our signs.
2. Those sinners who believed in Allah but disobeyed Him and insisted on sins and did not seek forgiveness till death, will be punished for their sins for periods depending on their sins. It is not a matter of minutes of hours but it can be years , decades or even hundreds of years.

3. Can any human being tolerate being inside big fire for a minute? What if it is for years and years which can reach to centuries? Those who think that committing sinful acts are easy, should ask themselves how much can they tolerate hellfire? may Allah (SWT) protect us from it.

4. We beg to Allah, The Most Merciful , The Best Forgiver, to protect us from any sin and forgive our previous sins and save us from the punishment of Hellfire. Allah (SWT) says in Quran about the servants of Allah : They supplicate to Allah: Our Lord, Avert from us the torment of Jahannam (Hell), verily, it's torment is unbearable. Sura 25, Verse 65.

Wassalam.

123261

Life . Parents

As a 30 year old can I make my own life decisions without my parents' involvement because if I ask them they may not allow. Am I disobeying them by not telling them?

Your life is your life and you have the right to decide it, but you must always respect your parents and never do anything which makes them feel disrespected. Virgin girl needs in her marriage a permission from her father or paternal grand father. Man does need permission from any one in his marriage, but he must avoid neglecting or disrespecting his parents.

Wassalam.

123373

Oath . Life . Qur'an

Are we allowed to take a false oath by the Quran to save somebody’s life or honour?

Saving your life and/ or life of others is obligatory. If the only way to save life is taking false oath, then it might be permissible if there are no other Islamic reason against it.

Saving honour has many degrees which must be considered before replying this part of your question. We need to understand the real situation first, then reply can be researched according to Islamic rules.

Wassalam.

121664

Life . Spirituality

What is the best way to diagnose one's spiritual diseases? How can I know on which aspects of life I should work on more?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 2 months ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. To diagnose spiritual traits a person needs to be aware of their actions, attitudes and states and then they need reflect on why they act or feel the way they do.

For this reflection it helps to understand some schemas of the soul and how personality development is viewed in Islam. When a person is aware of something that they would like to improve, the next stage is to seek methods that will facilitate that movement towards the desired outcome.

Sometimes simply being aware and controlling impulsive behaviour is enough to deal with some traits and at other times real life changes are the only way to get rid of persistent problems. The ones that need more work are the traits that are more deeply rooted. There are some fundamental changes a person can make to deal with a host of problems, but the development process is a life long journey, full of successes and failures, progression and regression, remembering and forgetting. At the same time, when meaningful change is achieved it results in coming closer to a truly Islamic personality.

May you always be successful

117438

Life . Muslims . Du'a (Supplication)

Why do we need to recite Dua when everything in life requires effort? For instance, non-Muslims put effort in their goals and finally achieve them by working hard. So in reality if we need to put effort anyway then what is the point of Dua?

Our wishes are always more than our abilities, that is why we need Allah to help us and protect us. We need always to supplicate and seek help from Allah to grant us our wishes and avoid us any harm. Efforts only can never fulfill our wishes nor protect us from unexpected harm and risk. Non Muslims do supplicate especially during hardships, and those who do not supplicate suffer serious problems. Millions of them run miserable life despite having worldly materials, but they feel lost because they have weak link with their Creator.

All the Prophets and Infallible Imams used to put maximum efforts in the best way, still they used to pray Du'a. Du'a is the soul of worshiping Allah as the Hadeeth states. Du'a is our practical evidence that we believe in Allah, who is The Absolute Able, and the we as His creatures need His help in every moment and every matter in our existence. When the faith is string, the Du'a is more and those who do not supplicate and don't seek from Allah are the arrogant persons who ignore and deny their human nature and claim to be needless to Allah. Allah says in Quran: Seek from Me, I will respond to you. Surely those who feel bigger than worshiping Me, will enter Hellfire with humiliation.(Sura 40, verse 60).

Wassalam.

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Parents . Life . Adolescence . Obedience

As a Muslim teenager, can I disobey my parents' decision about how I should lead my life when I turn 18? Do they have the right to control my life?

Zaid Alsalami, Shaykh Dr Zaid Alsalami is an Iraqi born scholar, raised in Australia. He obtained a BA from Al-Mustafa University, Qom, and an MA from the Islamic College in London. He also obtained a PhD from... Answered 5 months ago

Bismihi ta'ala

I am sure you know that in Islam, becoming an "adult" is not defined by turning 18 or 21. We see maturity to be reaching the age of taklif, where we become religiously responsible and accountable.

As Muslims, we also know that obedience to parents has no age limit, and we show our utmost respect and reverence to our parents, as old as we get. The status of parents is above everything, and that is why you should not see it to be "control" in the negative sense.

Parents have authority over us, and in most, if not all cases, they want the best for us. As we grow, we must increase in our level of obedience to our parents, and cater for them as much as possible. We show this to ourselves, and to our children, so our children will learn from us. When we get old, we wont need to struggle, because we have shown our children the right Islamic way of how to treat elders.

You must not disobey your parents, and always try your best to comply to their requirements and keep them happy with your behaviour and what you do. Please read about what our religion says about parents and the abundant reward we get in this dunya and akhirah when we show our obedience to them.

Of course, we are talking about normal situations, but if one's parents are indeed evil, abusive and negatively controlling, then that would need to be dealt with in a wise way.

With prayers for your success.

112983

Life . Insurance

Is it permissible to take out life insurance?

Yes. Life insurance agreement is a valid and binding both the insurance company and the policy holder according our great scholars as one of the applications of the conditional gift الهبة المشروطة.
Wassalam.

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Life . Children . Hereafter . Procreation

In the next life, can a believing male and female procreate and have children in the same way they did in this world?

Edit: There is a narration that says, "When a believer [in heaven] wants a child, Allah will created him or her without pregnancy or birth in whatever form [his parent] wishes, just as He created Adam." (al-Ihtijaj, 2/130, ascribed to a letter from Imam al-Mahdi (A))

I am not sure what else is mentioned on this subject in our sources (perhaps someone can add something.).

However, possibly they will not want to have children there because often our desire to have children in this world is affected by hormones or society, or the desire to procreate is put into our hearts through divine mechanisms to carry out the plan of God for humanity.

God knows best!

106734

Life . God (Allah) . Tribulation

When asking Allah for ease in this life, is it wrong to expect difficulty? When thinking of the verses and Hadith where Allah tells us that we will go through hardship, it can sometimes confuse me that should I expect hardship or ease?

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Perhaps the way to understand asking for ease is that we ask for ease in those things that can be made easier for us without compromising what is really good for us. That is that we make things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves through numerous mistakes and miscalculations and so we ask Allah to mitigate those difficulties that are out of a lack of wisdom. But test and difficulty are a part of the development of an Islamic personality rooted in faith and those with higher capacities can be tested with more extreme difficulties. That difficulty can be whilst being surrounded by material ease, and it is through those difficulties that a higher form of ease is found. When a person is needless of all except God, they are at ease despite whatever circumstance they find themselves in.

May you always be successful

110153

Life . Death . Starvation . Pork . Food

If in a life or death situation where starvation will be the cause of death and you are forced to have pork, is it permissible not to eat it and allow yourself to die?

Usually we deal with questions related to practical issues which people experience in their day to day life. Your question looks like very far from day to day life, nevertheless if you want the answer for knowledge, it is obligatory to save our life. Deliberate failure in saving life and causing death is a sinful act. It is not permissible to cause death to yourself even if the only food available to remain alive is pork, but no more than what make you survive.

'Wassalam.

110168

Life

How can I break a very long spell of bad luck in my life?

What comes across as bad luck can be for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can be a sign that we are not meant to do certain things, for instance, if we try to get a certain type of job repeatedly and are unable to do so. Sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason.

If you are concerned there may be a metaphysical reason for your bad luck (evil eye, cursework, etc), you could contact a reliable and trustworthy scholar with practical experience in these matters who could further advise you on that. If someone is suffering from bad luck for no apparent reason (e.g. they have freak accidents repeatedly although they are careful), it is worth looking into that sort of thing.

Some overall suggestions to bring blessings into your life (you may or may not be doing these things, I am just putting them out there in general):

* Reciting the Qur'an or playing it in the background, especially parts of the Qur'an recommended for things such as attracting sustenance, like Surat al-Waqi'ah
* Prayers for the deceased, including relatives and the mu'mineen
* Maintaining good ties with family (if it is appropriate to your situation)
* Hosting guests
* Holding religious gatherings such as majalis in your home (if it is possible)
* Praying the 5 daily prayers regularly with focus
* Keeping a clean and calm environment around you (as much as possible)
* Avoiding haraam acts or places where haraam acts are committed
* Keeping things like the 99 names of Allah or Qur'anic ayat on the walls (assuming you have a place to stay)
* Some narrations suggest keeping small animals, like birds, around also.

I hope your long stretch of bad luck ends soon!