Seyed Ali Shobayri

Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the Islamic College of London. He also studied at the Hawza Ilmiyya of England and continues Hawza and Islamic studies with private teachers.

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

A husband must provide his wife with a suitable accommodation as this is one of her rights. If she agrees to live with the in-laws then that is fine however if living with in-laws creates problems and a lack of privacy, then the husband should get separate accommodation. 

May Allah grant you success 

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

Yes this is allowed 

May Allah grant you success 

81637

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

No, your ghusl is still valid if you break wind or urinate. You will however no longer have wudu and you will have to repeat your wudu after ghusl al janabah. 
 

May Allah grant you success 

81748

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

One may have intercourse with their spouse as many times as they wish without having to do a ghusl for each time separately. 
 

After one is finished, the single ghusl they perform makes them have spiritual purity once again to perform the religious duties. 
 

May Allah grant you success   

81200

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah,

Asalamu Alaykom,

You should marry the spouse who is most religiously compatible with you.
 

Not wearing hijab openly is an act of fisq and is a sin. One must remember that such a woman will raise their future kids if Allah blesses them. If a young girl was to see her mother not wearing hijab or dressed in ways which are not proper, she may imitate this. 
 

The same applies for a woman in choosing a man. Does she want a man who doesn't pray and who may do sins in front of her kids? 
 

May Allah grant you success 

81245

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu alaykom,

I can understand dear brother or sister how much of a challenge it can be for someone to do salah in a non-Islamic  work place. Some managers do not understand the importance of Salah for Muslims and may only permit for one to do it on their break. This can be problematic since the break period could be before the salah starts, or at a time when the salah could be qada. 

Usually though around this time in the summer, one has a lot of time to pray zuhr and. Asr. Of course it is better to pray them on time however not all circumstances may permit that. Let us say for example zuhr time is at 1:00pm but you could only pray it at 4pm. As long as maghrib time hasn’t set in, you would be still be able to do the salah within an acceptable time period. 

In many work places people go for cigarette or toilet breaks so if these were permitted but not a short prayer break, it could possibly be discrimination. How could one have a right to smoke for 5 -10 minutes yet a Muslim isn’t able to pray within a similar time period?! 

If one had very extreme circumstances where they had no other way, it is also possible one could pray in a bathroom if they had tahir mat. This is however makruh meaning the salah would have less reward. I do know of some cases where some were forced to perform salah in a staff bathroom which had a lock on the door. This way they could perform their salah without it being qada and without being prevented. 

You should try to speak to your non-Muslim colleague or manager and inshallah a flexible arrangement can be agreed on. 

Some ulema state that one must leave the job which would prevent them from doing Salah and must pick a job in which they are able to do salah. 

It should be noted that it isn’t permissible to purposely delay salah past qada time, so you cannot just pray them qada the next day instead within the set time.

May Allah grant you success

80623

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismaillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

Usually in a hostel one has their own room but may share a bathroom or kitchen with others. The general rule is that everything is tahir until you see it become najis, so assuming someone made something najis just because they don't know the tahara rules isn't correct. Let's say you do know some things become najis, it isn't wajib for you to make them tahir. You may keep your own pure utensils and also pure clothing for salah. As long as you keep a pure place for salah such as a rug and pure clothing then this is fine. One may also pray on a najis carpet apart from the sujud area provided that the najasa wouldn't transfer on them and remains dry. 
 

May Allah grant you success 

76794

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

The verse that you have asked about is often used by some anti-Islam supporters to  portray Islam as a hateful and intolerant religion which goes against peaceful co-existence. 

They use the verse to say that a Muslim isn’t allowed to be friends with non-Muslims. It is correct that some translations have translated the word ‘Awliya’ - the plural of wali’ - as ‘friends’ but the word wali or awliyah, can have various meanings depending on the context. 

Firstly in Islam as we know, marriage is allowed  with the people of the book. Therefore it wouldn’t make sense for Allah to command us not be friends with the people of the book and at the same time, allow marriage with them. Is it possible that one may have a Christian or Jewish wife but not be her friend?! 

Secondly, when we read history, we find that the prophet Mohammad had (sawa) peaceful interactions with the people of the book as well as friendship. 

Extracted from a longer Hadith in Kitāb Al-Tawhīd by Sheikh Saduq, we find the following: 

كان لرسول الله صديقان يهوديان 

“The Messenger of Allah had two Jewish friends” 

This shows us that according to our books, the prophet did in fact have friendship with those from the people of the book. By coupling this hadith with the verse, we would come to realise that the word ‘wali’ must have a different meaning than friend. 

When we look into some books of history, we find that according to some reports, this verse was revealed during an incident relating Jews who had breached a covenant with the prophet. 

Please read the passage below: 

“It is reported that the Messenger of Allah besieged them for six days until finally they surrendered to him. `Abdullah ibn Ubayy came to him and interceded on their behalf saying: “O Apostle of Allah, these are my allies and clients who have defended me against the black and the red (that is, against all kinds of people). They were three hundred armoured soldiers and four hundred without armour. Would you now cut them down all in one morning? By Allah, I can then find no security; rather I dread the turns of for- tunes!” The people of Banu Qaynuqa` were allies of the Khazraj tribe only, and not of the Aws. `Abdullah ibn Ubayy persisted in his entreaties until the Prophet relented and granted him their blood. But seeing the humiliation which they had suffered, the people of Banu Qaynuqa` left Medina altogether and settled in Adhri'at in Syria. Then Allah sent down concerning `Abdullah ibn Ubayy and others of the Khazraj tribe:

O you who have faith, take not the Jews or the Christians as patrons. . . (Qur'an. 5 : 51‐ 52) .”

Source: Beacons of Light: Muhammad, the Prophet and Fatimah az-Zahra’ (the Radiant) a Partial translation of I'lamu 'l Wara bi Alami 'l-Huda of Abu Ali al Fadl ibn al Hasan ibn al Fadl at Tabarsi (c. 468/1076 - 548/1154). 

So we see that from this source, a hypocrite from among the companions, tried to intercede for the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa who broke the peace treaty with prophet which was a betrayal. The Prophet allowed this Jewish tribe to reside in Medina on the condition that they do not help enemies against the Muslims; despite this, they still broke their agreement. 

From this source it shows that Allah revealed this verse to rebuke the hypocrite Abdullah bin Ubay who took these people as his allies and his protective guardians. He relied on them and had a type of attachment towards them over the prophet and Muslims. 

This leads us understand that if we take the verse to mean friends, it would indicate those from them who Muslims  have conflicts with, and not regular people from Ahlul kitab. 

However from the context of the historical report, it seems that the correct translation could be the following: 

O you who have faith, take not the Jews or the Christians as patrons or protective guardians. . . (Qur'an. 5 : 51‐ 52) 

Also it could be possible for a Muslim to be forbidden from friendship with some other Muslims. For example if they would lead him astray or to an immoral path, he must not be friends with them despite them being Muslims. So this isn’t discriminatory and restricted to only people of the book. 

If a Muslim was to have a Christian friend for example, who he may study with or partake in sports with etc, then this would be permitted providing that this person wouldn’t lead him down an immoral path or a deviated path. How many times have we found ourselves around Christians who held better moral traits than Muslims although they are upon Batil? 

Also to mention, it is better for someone to take mu’minin as friends as  this will lead them to become stronger in iman and prevent them from haram things. 

It should be noted that the  book above, also contains reports from non-Shia reported Seerah of the prophet. This is due to the Shia losing many books by having them burnt by the enemies, so the above opinion is a possible exegesis for the verse and not 100% definite. Allah swt knows best and the full explanation of the Quran will be with us when Imam Mahdi (May Allah hasten his reappearance) returns. 

What we do know for certain, is that it wouldn’t mean friends in the absolute sense as the Prophet had two Jewish friends as reported in our sources. As we know, the Prophet Mohammad (sawa) is of course our role model who we try to imitate. If he showed friendship and kindness towards the non-Muslims, we may also take this example. 

May Allah grant you success 

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

Alhamdulilah you have realized the error of not wearing hijab. It is possible that there will not be a sin upon you for old pictures inshallah. 

You should however try your hardest to get any of these pictures removed. Try to privately message the person who had tagged you and explain the situation.  If they refuse to remove these pictures, then they will be in violation of your rights and they will be also committing a sin if they are Muslims. 

It may also be possible to message the social media platform and request a removal. All you can do is try and if it isn’t successful, you have fulfilled your duty. 

May Allah grant you success

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

Yes, some maraja have now come out and are saying that congregational prayers may be held with a certain measurement of distancing between people in the rows. 

May Allah grant you success 

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Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

It is allowed for one to hold paper or a phone if they wish to recite verses of a surah which they haven’t memorised  however it is makruh meaning there is less reward in the Salah. 

May Allah grant you success 

66160

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

A Muslim man should conduct an Islamic marriage contract with a woman. Scholars differ as to whether someone can marry a Christian woman permanently. All allow temporary marriage and some scholars say that both temporary and permanent are  allowed. 

If however a Muslim man was ignorant and he for example read a marriage contract such as a civil one instead of Islamic (while he thought that this counts as  marriage) then some scholars would say that the marriage wouldn’t be fornication. 

This therefore could make the child one of shubha where they aren’t deemed as illegitimate. 

If he found out his mistake though, then he must do an Islamic marriage as soon as possible. 

Rgearding a Christian marriage contract, this should be asked from one's Marja and it should be stated whether the person was ignorant or not. 

May Allah grant you success