Women

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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 3 anni fa

Bismihi ta'ala

Yes, one is allowed to undergo plastic surgery, like rhinoplasty,  and it is halal in itself. Of course, one must be observant of other things that it could entail that could be haram, like touching of a non-mahram, etc. 

And Allah knows best.  

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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... Answered 3 anni fa

I did not find any authentic Hadeeth in Shia books of Hadeeth suggesting that most of Dajjal's followers will be women. It is narrated in many Sunni books e.g. Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal from Abdullah Ibn Omar.

Wassalam.

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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 3 anni fa

Bismihi ta'ala 

This is an interesting question, and it can be tackled from different angles.

In general, the ruling is that a female (mahram or non-mahram) cannot pray beside or in front of a male. This is not purely a matter of preventing men from unlawful glancing, because if that was the case, then a wife could pray in front of a husband.

Islam focuses on elevating the status of a women beyond her being sexualised by others, and even by herself. This can be seen not only in mandating hijab, but even in the obligatory or recommended (mustahab) acts in prayer, like how she prostrates, and how she stands back up. 

This is all for the purpose of preserving her modesty, and also to eliminate any likelihood of a lustful gaze (haram or halal), during prayer in particular, for the purpose of gaining that absolute concentration in prayer. 

Of course, we are assuming that this is just one of the reasons behind the ruling. It's similar to the story of Prophet Moses (a.s.) and the daughters of Prophet Shu'ayb (a.s.). However, the reality is that like many other rulings, we do not have the precise reason for it. There could certainly be more reasons.We are just assuming that it is a matter of convenience and a spiritual matter for concentration, but it could be more than that. 

The main issue is in prayer we need to attain ḥudhūr al-qalb, which is presence of the heart.We need to be concentrating completely on our prayer, and remove anything that would distract us. 

We understand that it is also the very natural structure of the female that Almighty God has created with her beauty and attraction that could contribute to a male (her mahram or non-mahram) being distracting and glancing at her. 

Please look at all the other rulings for prayer, which can also hint to how important it is to avoid loss of concentration, like praying in front of an image, etc.

It could also be for convenience, so a woman does not feel embarrassed or exposed when she is bending down for ruku' or sujud.

And so on. 

Furthermore, please refer to your Marja' taqleed on this ruling, because there are some jurists who consider it mustahab, and not wajib.

And Allah knows best.

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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... Answered 3 anni fa

It depends on the age and situation of you and the Mahram member of your family. It is not obligatory to cover your arms and legs in from of an old Mahram being sure that uncovering arms and legs will never cause nor initiate unwanted feeling. In general, it is not obligatory to cover in front of Mahram, that parts of your body which are usually uncovered at home with your family, provided that it should not cause bad feeling of desire or shame.

Wassalam.

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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... Answer updated 3 anni fa

The classical/traditional ruling is that a woman has a limited right to divorce.

In practice, I have never seen a marriage which stayed together because a woman legally "can't divorce". If a marriage breaks down to that degree, there is usually a separation (either the wife leaves the home, or the husband leaves the home, or both agree to separate).

The shariah aspect informs what happens next - sadly, what sometimes happens is that the man refuses to grant the wife a divorce out of revenge, he moves on and marries another wife, and the woman is trapped being married to him in name only. Then, she puts forward a lot of effort to get a shariah divorce from the non-marriage, and oftentimes this is accomplished after some time (sometimes years) and with a lot of disillusionment.

The point being, at any rate, that if a marriage is unbearable, people won't stay together because of this particular law.

Regarding emotional intelligence, individuals vary. There are men with good emotional intelligence and men with low emotional intelligence. The same with women.

However, given the social pressures on women, women tend to have very acute survival skills in these matters. Most women in Muslim societies or communities in which divorce is stigmatized are acutely aware of the stigma of divorce and how it will disadvantage them or their children socially and financially and do not rush into it by any means. This stigma is cultural and not an original part of Islam; when you read hadith from the time of the Prophet (S),  you see that  it was not unusual for women to be widowed or divorced and to expect to remarry; the stigma against it in some societies is more of a modern thing. (Maybe things are changing these days, at least a few decades ago there was in some places a lot of stigma.) This is not to say that men won't suffer stigma - this also varies from society to society - but in general women tend to suffer more from divorce socially and financially, especially if they were a financial dependent.

(Exceptions may apply! I am just speaking in general here not for every specific case. Women, like men, also vary in their level of interest in being committed to a marriage.)

Anyway, regarding divorce law, there are some individuals in this day and age who are giving it another look. This is not dissimilar to how certain laws in the past were given another look, such as laws regarding the purity/impurity of Ahl al-Kitab.

In the meantime, one can work around this by granting the woman the right to divorce at the time the marriage contract is performed. (Sadly, again, this is often not enough to guarantee that a woman will be able to get the assistance needed for divorce, except in places where Shia Islamic marriage contracts are legally enforced, such as Iran, but at least it is something.) Maybe in the coming decades there will be some more dialogue on this issue.

Of course we hope that everyone has successful marriages and doesn't need to divorce! This is just a precaution. 

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... Answered 3 anni fa

All the rules in real Islam of the Prophet and his Holy Progeny ( Ahlul Bayt) (SAWA) are based on the absolute wisdom for the benefit of human beings. Allah, His messenger and Ahlul Bayt, know the full reasons for every rule. We might know little bit but we firmly believe in the Absolute Wisdom, Knowledge and Mercy of Allah. That is why we do not argue and never question why after our faith in Allah's Mercy, Knowledge and Wisdom.

No doubt, divorce being the most unwelcome act, should not be given to woman who is more emotional than man. Islam aims to decrease chances of divorce being breaking the families. Conditions for valid divorce in Islam are many and not very easy to achieve immediately. The aim is to discourage emotional divorces.
'Wassalam.

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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... Answered 3 anni fa

If the woman is wearing full Hijab (lose clothes that don't define her body) cycling will be permissible for her, although it is better for her to avoid it as it is mentioned in many books the it is Makrouh (disliked). Makrouh is after all permissible.

Wassalam.

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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... Answered 3 anni fa

Imam Ali (AS)'S views in every matter is nothing but what Allah (SWT) and the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) said. Woman is equal partner to man in our faith and she can be better than man if her good deeds are more than him. Fatima (AS) is a Woman yet has reached the highest degree above all men of the world.

Critical sayings about women are either not authentic or if authentic then oriented to certain women who disobeyed Allah and the Messenger during that time and those women who follow them every time. Ameerul Mo'mineen had suffered a lot from such women specially in the battle of Jamal which was instigated and led by a woman.

Wassalam.

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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 anni fa

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

The act of selling perfume and oils is permissible. It isn't your responsibility relating to what someone would do with the perfume. 
 

May Allah grant you success 

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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 3 anni fa

Men should avoid showing tattoo on their body to non Mahram women when there is  a possibility of bad effect.

Wassalam.

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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 3 anni fa

Further explanation: In some cultures, dating back to ancient or mediaeval times (including parts of Europe/Britain as well as Greece), it was considered inappropriate or immodest for respectable women to ride horses in the normal way, especially if they were wearing long dresses that might not stay in place, so women were expected to ride side-saddle or, as Sayyed mentions, in a litter atop the animal. (I am not saying that no women ever rode horses the normal way, just that this was considered more mannerly.) It seems that women riding horses the normal way may have been seen as suggestive, although, nowadays, in much of the world, there is no stigma attached to it. 

If they rode bare horses or regularly saddled horses during that time, it could be taken as a sign of them being treated harshly by the enemy. 

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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... Answered 3 anni fa

This Hadeeth وتركب ذات الفروج السروج is narrated in many of our books of Hadeeth like Wasaa'il al-Shia , V. 11, P. 496 and Tafseer Ali Ibn Ebraheem al-Qummi, V.2 , P. 304, and Mustadrak Al-Wasaa'il, V. 12, P. 335.

Female should ride sitting on Hawdaj (Hedge) and not directly on saddles.

Wassalam.