Rebecca Masterton

Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been teaching for seventeen years through different media, and has also worked in media for ten years, producing and presenting programs for several TV channels.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 years ago

"Countries that are under the control of Sunni populations do not permit surrogacy. In Iran, where Shia are the majority, Ayatollah Khomeini allowed surrogacy in Islam, but with one condition: the resulting child must be recognized as the child of the donor father.This works well if an infertile couple contributes the egg and sperm, and then has it grown inside a third party surrogate mother, but it would not work well if the wife of the infertile couple wishes to carry the child using the sperm of a third party donor. Many Shia in some other countries actually agree with the Sunni point of view, but Iran’s position has made other countries consider their objection.The majority of the Shia scholars are willing to legitimise the issue. Ayatollah Musavi Bojnordi refers to the principle of (اصالة الحل) in Islamic jurisprudence. Everything is Halal unless it has been proved otherwise. Surrogacy is common in Iran. Act of donating Gamete or embryo donation was passed by parliament on 19 July 2003 and it has been approved by Guardian Council (شوراي نگهبان) on 29 July 2009. Article no 1) All of the fertility centres would be allowed to practice artificial insemination. Article no 2) Demand for donating embryos should be from both sides of legal couples. 

References:

Musavi Bojnurdi, Seyed Mohammad. Hoghoghe Khanevadeh
Safaei, Seyed Hosain & Imami, Asadolah. Mokhtasar Hoghoghe Khanevadeh
www.islamquest.net
http://www.mums.ac.ir/midwifery/fa/wom_heal_help_rent# (University of Mashhad) 
http://www.surrogacyclinics.com/surrogacy-and-islam/

(From a presentation by Fatemeh Ghiabi)

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

It depends upon the reason. It is obligatory for a Muslim to defend their honour. They are not allowed to accept being humiliated. Ayatollah Dastghayb Shirazi mentions situations where it is wajib or permissible to do qat' al-rahm: 'to cut off ties': that is: if you are forced to commit haram by your family and if your family drives you out due to your religion. If you are being seriously emotionally or physically harmed by a family member, then it is technically not permissible for you to tolerate that. Please see this link below for more information: https://www.al-islam.org/greater-sins-volume-1-ayatullah-sayyid-abdul-husayn-dastghaib-shirazi/seventh-greater-sin-qata-ar#what-least-amount-silet-ar-rahm-wajib

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

On p. 111, Vol. 7, of Bihār al-Anwār, it states:
‘In the Hereafter, there will be fifty stations: Each station lasts a thousand years. The first station is getting out of the grave. People will be confined in it for a thousand years barefoot, hungry and thirsty. Whoever comes out of his grave believing in Allah‎, in Paradise and Hell, in the Accounting and the Judgment, admitting Allah‎ as the Lord, believing in His Prophet and in what Allah‎ Almighty had revealed to him, will be saved from hunger and thirst.’ 
 

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 years ago

There does not appear to be much in-depth history on the circumstances of these narrations and who transmitted them. By the time that they were narrated in Bukhari and Muslim the concept of 'Imam' did exist explicitly and was known in wider circles. It certainly would not have been in the interests of Bukhari to cite a narration that mentioned the word 'Imam' and 'Bani Hashim', since that would have clearly overturned the forced legitimacy of Abu Bakr and 'Umar's caliphates. In particular 'Umar held that that the successorship belonged to 'the people' (meaning Quraysh). The Uthmaniyya, being of Quraysh, therefore held that the caliphate belonged to them. One can surmise that perhaps there may have been narrations in circulation predicting twelve Imams, but that the wording had been 'adjusted' to mask the true implication, if not to 'redirect' the meaning of the narration to suit political purposes. It really needs an expert like Suleiman Ali Mourad (who has analysed the 'transferral of authorship' between the Ahl al-Bayt (as) and various figures in the Sufi tradition, i.e. the attribution to Sufi figures of sayings of the Ahl al-Bayt) to do a proper textual, historical analysis of these narrations.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

As Allah (swt) knows the future, He also knows that even if the door of guidance is open, the hypocrites will never choose it. His setting the seal upon their hearts is not an emotional act, but rather a logical response to the action of the person.  That said, the Qur'an does not say that the seal is permanent.

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Yes, you are allowed to. The Holy Prophet (s) used to draw up peace treaties with non-Muslims that respected mutual rights. When the Qur'an says 'do not take the Jews and Christans as your awliya'', it means 'do not make them guardians and managers for your affairs'. You can still communicate with them, and if they are your neighbours you actually must communicate with them in order to observe their rights.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 years ago

2:124 ‘And (remember) when his Lord tried Abraham with (His)
commands/words, and he fulfilled them. He said: Indeed, I have appointed you a leader (imām) for mankind. (Abraham) said: And my progeny? He said: My
covenant (ahd) does not include the wrongdoers/oppressors.’

21:72-73 ‘And We bestowed upon him (Abraham) Isaac, and Jacob as a
grandson. Each of them We made righteous./ And We made them imāms by Our command and We inspired them the doing of good deeds and the establishment of salah and the payment of zakah, and they were worshippers of Us alone.’

32:24 ‘And when they became steadfast (sabarū) and attained certainty (yaqīn) of Our revelations, We appointed from among them imāms who guide by Our command.’

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

There is someone called Mr. Bilal Muhammad on facebook who may be able to help you. He writes the following: 

Abu Zayd al-Balkhi (d. 934) was a scientist who made a distinction between spiritual depression and biological depression. He based his theories on the Quran and Sunna.

While the medical science of his time focused on physical illnesses, al-Balkhi wrote about spiritual, psychological, and mental disorders. He argued for the interplay between physical and mental health -- that bodily illnesses can lead to cognitive problems, and that spiritual illnesses can lead to physical ones.

al-Balkhi wrote about neurosis (chronic distress but without delusions or hallucinations), endogenous depression (originating from within the body), reactive depression (originating from outside the body), and so much that we credit modern psychologists with.

Islam is a religion of faith and actions. While our traditional cultures overemphasize "pray-it-away" solutions to mental health, modern secularism overemphasizes biochemistry. We don't just pray for poverty to go away, we give to charity and we stress personal responsibility and hard work. By the same token, we can't just throw money at the problem of poverty and expect it to disappear -- it may even get worse.

Clinics and hospitals in 2019 are realizing the importance of having chaplains, who are part-in-parcel of the healing process. While medication may lower symptoms and even save lives, there are no "magic pills" -- one's worldview, perspective, and lifestyle will bring equal or greater results.

As a Muslim who has struggled with clinical depression, I personally found much of pop psychology and social media "self-care" posts to be narcissistic, anti-social, hedonistic; and perhaps worst of all, they don't work, and could make the problems worse. Some hip shaykhs even erroneously use this playbook. There aren't many Islamic works on the topic, but as we can see from the example of al-Balkhi, Islam developed a foundation to this science over a millennia ago.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (as) was a descendent of Abu Bakr through his mother. After Abu Bakr died, his wife Asma married Imam Ali, and thus Abu Bakr's son, Muhammad,was raised by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. He became a staunch 'Alawi supporter, openly protesting against the corruption of the third caliph 'Uthman and taking part in the siege against 'Uthman's palace. He became a general in the army of Imam Ali, and fought for him at the Battle of the Camel (against Talha, Zubayr and his own sister Aisha) and at Siffeen against Mu'awiya (who had been made governor of Syria by 'Umar ibn Khattab). 'Ali ibn Abi Talib made him governor of Egypt during his short caliphate, but Ibn Abi Bakr was killed by the army of Amr ibn al-As who operated under Mu'awiya's governorship.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answer updated 4 years ago

Edip Yuksel a contemporary Quranist scholar has discussed this verse in detail in his article Beating Women or Beating Around the Bush (Unorthodox Articles, Internet, 1998) that four key words or phrases have been mistranslated by traditional translators. To justify the misogynistic and patriarchal practices, deliberately or unknowingly, a majority of translators render the phrase kawamuna ala al-nisa as "in charge of women" rather than "providers for women" or "observant of women."

Interestingly, the same translators translate the same verb mentioned in 4:135; 5:8; 4:127; 2:229; 20:14; 55:9 as "observe/maintain." When the same verb is used to depict a relationship between man and woman, it somehow magically transforms into a prescription of hierarchy and authority.

The second key word that is commonly mistranslated is iDRiBuhunna. In almost all translations, you will see it translated as "scourge," or "beat" or "beat (lightly)". The verb DaRaBa is a multiple-meaning verb akin to English ‘strike’ or ‘get.’ The Quran uses the same verb with various meanings, such as, to travel, to get out (3:156; 4:101; 38:44; 73:20; 2:273), to strike(2:60; 7:160; 8:12; 20:77; 24:31; 26:63; 37:93; 47:4), to beat (8:50), to beat or regret (47:27), to set up (43:58; 57:13), to give (examples) (14:24; 16:75; 18:32; 24:35; 30:28; 36:78; 39:27;43:17; 59:21; 66:10), to take away, to ignore (43:5), to condemn (2:61), to seal, to draw over (18:11), to cover (24:31), and to explain (13:17). It is again interesting that the scholars pick the meaning BEAT, among the many other alternatives, when the relationship between man and woman is involved, a relationship that is defined by the Quran with mutual love and care (30:21).

The third word that has been traditionally mistranslated is the word NuSHuZ as "rebellion" or "disobedience" or "opposition" to men. If we study 4:34 carefully we will find a clue that leads us to translate that word as embracing a range of related ideas, from "flirting" to "engaging in an extramarital affair" – indeed, any word or words that reflects the range of disloyalty in marriage. The clue is the phrase before nushuz, which reads: ". . . they honor them according to God's commandments, even when alone in their privacy." This phrase emphasizes the importance of loyalty in marital life, and helps us to make better sense of what follows.

Interestingly, the same word, nushuz, is used later in the same chapter, in 4:128 – but it is used to describe the misbehavior of husbands, not wives, as it was in 4:34. In our view, the traditional translation of nushuz, that is, "opposition," will not fit in both contexts. However, the understanding of nushuz as marital disloyalty, in a variety of forms, is clearly appropriate for both 4:34 and 4:128.

The fourth word is the word QaNiTat, which means "devoted to God," and in some verses it describes both man and woman (2:116; 3:17;16:120; 30:26; 33:31; 39:9; 66:5). Though this word is mostly translated correctly as "obedient," when read in the context of the above-mentioned distortion it conveys a false message as if to imply that women must be "obedient" to their husbands as their inferior, while the word refers to obedience to God's law. The word is mentioned as a general description of Muslim women (66:12), and more interestingly the description of Mary who, according to the Quran, did not even have a husband! (66:12).

The traditional distortion of this verse was first questioned by Edip Yuksel in his book, "Kuran Çevirilerindeki Hatalar" (Errors in Turkish Translations) (1992, Istanbul). 
 

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

No, they do not need to repeat them.

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Rebecca Masterton, Dr Rebecca Masterton graduated with a BA in Japanese Language and Literature; an MA in Comparative East Asian and African Literature and a PhD in Islamic literature of West Africa. She has been... Answered 4 years ago

A Muslim is someone who practices the laws of Islam and has no emnity towards the Ahl al-Bayt (as). A mu'min is someone who has ma'rifah of the station of the Ahl al-Bayt (as) and whose heart is open to the esoteric knowledge that they teach. Both can go to Heaven.