Qur'an

The Quran (القرآن‎, romanized: al-Qurʼān, literally meaning "the recitation"), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims believe to be a revelation from God (Allah). It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature. The Quran is divided into chapters (Arabic: سورة sūrah, plural سور suwar), which are subdivided into verses (Arabic: آية āyah, plural آيات āyāt).

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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 1 settimana fa

No. There is no obligation to wear any cap while performing SALAH or reciting Quran. Women should obviously wear Hijab but there is no obligation on men to wear a cap or so. It is recommended for men who can to wear turban to do so while praying SALAH. No obligation at all to cover the head or wear a skull cap.

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... Answer updated 2 settimane fa

Shia Muslims and most of Sunni Muslims seek help from the Prophet and his Holy Progeny because of the order of Allah to all the believers to seek Waseela to Allah. Waseela ( means to Allah)(5:35). The Prophet and his Holy Progeny are the best Waseela (means to Allah).

Shia and most Sunni Muslims say : O Muhammad, O Ali help me. This does not mean that they are not seeking help from Allah, on the contrary,they are seeking help from Allah, with Waseela of Allah's most humble servants. We never claim that one can give us anything away from Allah. It is only Allah Who Grants us our wishes when seek. Seeking from Allah can be directly from Him, and better to seek through the Waseela which was ordered by Allah to seek through.

Prophets were mentioned in Quran seeking help from Allah through pious servants of Allah e,g, Prophet Sulaiman seeking help from Aasif ibn Barkhis to bring the throne of Bilqis immediately (Sura Naml, verses 38, 39 and  40).

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 settimane fa

Bismihi ta'ala

There are references that when the holy Prophet (s.a.w.) went in his Mi'raj journey, Allah ta'ala communicated with the Prophet (s.a.w.), in the voice of Imam Ali (a.s.).  This is among the merits of Imam Ali (a.s.). 

Of course, in Sunni sources, like al-Durr al-Manthur, v. 4, p. 154-5, it says the Prophet (s.a.w.) heard the voice of Abu Bakr. 

But Sunni sources also narrate it being Imam Ali (a.s.). 

We have absolute belief that Allah ta'ala does not have a body, or anything material, and even in this case of "communicating", it was casting the sound. 

So, the voice was not Imam Ali (a.s.), but the casting of a sound to an angel that resembled the voice of Imam Ali (a.s.), because it was the most loved of sounds for the Prophet (s.a.w.). 

Some Sunni references for this narration:

al-Manaqib, by al-Khwarazmi, p. 78, p. 6, h. 61.

Yanabi' al-Mawaddah, v. 1, p. 246, h. 28. 

With prayers for your success

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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 settimane fa

Bismihi ta'ala

In the context of marriage, istikharah should only occur if someone is two-minded about two different proposals at once, both being equal. 

For marriage, you should do a background check on the person, research about them, look at compatibility, try to understand who they are, their family especially, and then consult with well-informed or experienced people. 

How actually religious are they? How is their akhlaq and what are their moral standards? These are the two primary questions you must have an answer to as well.

It's only after this that you evaluate the situation, and see whether or not you are still confused and two-minded, in which case you can do istikharah. 

Faal is different to istikharah. Faal is trying to find out what will happen, whereas istikhara is is about whether you should go ahead or not. 

In any case, these stages should be pursued, and if you are convinced, and done all your required work, you do not need to resort to istikharah.

And Allah knows best

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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 1 mese fa

No, at least not directly in any way that it can be understood directly from the text. What can be said most accurately is that the Qur'an does not conflict with DNA theory and therefore is in harmony with it.

However, some people read this idea into the story of Imam 'Ali (A) marrying the mother of al-'Abbas (A). Some people also read this into a narration about examining a woman's family before you marry her.

However there is no evidence that either of these things relate to DNA theory as we know it, and there is a tendency for some Muslims to try to find current ideas in texts when they aren't obviously there.

The idea that traits are inherited has been known to people since ancient times, especially since people have done farming and animal breeding and know well that the offspring resemble their parents in many ways, while at the same time, some traits skip a generation or are not always inherited.

Still, there are some Muslims who will argue that the Qur'an does discuss DNA, so you can read their arguments and the Qur'an and come to your own conclusion.

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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 1 mese fa

Yes, this is fine, but it should be treated with the same respect that one would give to any other paper with the Qur'an on it, and if you choose to discard it, it should be discarded appropriately rather than put in the trash.

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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 1 mese fa

The earth is part of the universe.

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 1 mese fa

Yes it is permissible for her to recite Tajweed or Tarteel of Quran in front of non-Mahram men as far as there is no intention of lust.

Wassalam.

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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 1 mese fa

Posted below are a range of responses to your question, and also links. Jonathan Brown's answer is quite detailed, and seems fairly plausible. In short, the person 'Uzayr could be an amalgamation of two personalities in history. Secondly, the term 'son of God', used in one of the Books of Enoch, has a different meaning from how Christians used the term. It just meant someone pious. There does not appear to be an extensive tafsir of this ayah in Imami books, but I will update this if I find it, inshaAllah.

https://drjonathanbrown.com/2016/the-quran-the-jews-and-ezra-as-the-son-...

https://www.britannica.com/topic/First-Book-of-Esdras

On Quora:

"Meir Lipnick: Did any Jews actually refer to Ezra as the Son of God, as the Qur'an claims?

Originally Answered: Did any Jews actually worship Ezra as the son of God, as the Koran claims?

If such a sect existed ever, it would be such an outlier that no memory of it exists amongst the Jewish people today. Suffice it to say that every religion has groups of heretics that spring up from time to time. I had never heard of this particular bit of heresy before. When I wrote this answer: Meir Lipnick's answer to Who was Uzair in Jewish literature? about a year ago, I had never heard of this controversy, and had not thought of any reason why this question would be asked. Having read some of the other answers and discussion on this question, it makes sense. Still, this seems to be a very odd controversy. The discussion that it was only some small sect of Jews living in Yemen in the 11th century CE is quite baffling given certain legends that Yemenite Jews felt snubbed by Erza and no Yemenite Jews would name their children after him despite being a prominent biblical figure. See the Wikipedia article on Yemenite Jews
(early history). As the article continues, this particular legend is probably apocryphal, but the fact that it exists seems very counter to the passage in the Quran and any accompanying commentary.

What makes this even more baffling is the nature of this bit of heresy. The whole "son of God" motif is very pagan in character. All legitimate Jewish הַשׁקָפָה (outlook) characterizes God as a single entity, one non-corporeal being. The idea of Him having a son is simply a contradiction in Jewish theology.

Now, this did happen one time in history that such a heresy came about. Christianity could be said to have evolved from a Jewish heresy involving a cult of personality surrounding a particular individual. But, this doesn't translate well to Ezra. There was no cult of personality around Ezra. The Book of Ezra in Jewish scriptures clearly discusses a human being and his pivotal involvement in some of the goings on around the time the Jewish people first returned to Israel after the Babylonian exile. No claim in this book ever mentions anything supernatural about Ezra. He is regarded very highly as one of the founding members of the Great Assembly, but he's not even called a prophet! The era of prophecy ended when the first temple was destroyed many decades before Ezra. But the Book of Ezra shares no similar characteristics as the Christian New Testament. The cult of personality behind Jesus is quite obvious in the New Testament."

"A history of the Jews of Arabia Book by Gordon Darnell Newby Page 61 :
We can deduce that the inhabitants of Hijaz during Muhammad's time knew portions, at least, of 3 Enoch in association with the Jews. The angels over which Metatron becomes chief are identified in the Enoch traditions as the sons of God, the Bene Elohim, the Watchers, the fallen ones as the causer of the flood. In 1 Enoch, and 4 Ezra, the term Son of God can be applied to the Messiah, but most often it is applied to the righteous men, of whom Jewish tradition holds there to be no more righteous than the ones God elected to translate to heaven alive. It is easy, then, to imagine that among the Jews of the Hijaz who were apparently involved in mystical speculations associated with the merkabah, Ezra, because of the traditions of his translation, because of his piety, and particularly because he was equated with Enoch as the Scribe of God, could be termed one of the Bene Elohim. And, of course, he would fit the description of religious leader (one of the ahbar of the Qur'an 9:31R) whom the Jews had exalted."

"George Sale Alkoran of Mohammed page 152 (1923):
This grievous charge against the Jews, the commentators endeavour to support by telling us, that it is meant of some ancient heterdox Jews, or else of some Jews of Medina; who said so for no other reason, than for that the law being utterly lost and forgotten during the Babylonish captivity, Ezra having been raised to life after he had been dead one hundred years, dictated the whole anew unto the scribes, out of his own memory; at which they greatly marvelled, and declared that he could not have done it, unless he were the son of God. Al-Beidawi adds, that the imputation must be true, because this verse was read to the Jews and they did not contradict it; which they were ready enough to do in other instances

Jewish life in late Antiquity was relatively centralized in Sura, Pumbedita and Tiberias, with most Jewish splinter groups being obliterated by then (the emergence of multiple Jewish denominations is a modern phenomenon, while Karaites emerged during the late Abbasid period). The idea that God could have a son has been universally considered antithetical to Jewish thought.

Talmudic sages in general in general saw Ezra as the greatest figure after Moses. The Quran may present a mockery of Rabbinical Judaism by accusing Jews of calling Ezra son of God and taking Rabbis as their lords. Indeed, throughout the Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, many condemnations of Rabbinical Jewish practices could be found."

https://www.quora.com/Why-does-the-Quran-say-that-the-Jews-believe-Uzair...

Quranic tafsir depicts Ezra in a slightly different way. Some tafasir say he was a prophet, although he could have just been the equivalent of a 'sabiq' (in Islam 'someone of the foremost group of righteous people').

"Uzair is Arabic for Hebrew Ezra. This is the only verse in the Holy Qur’an where such a reference is made. Who is this alleged Jewish son of God? After the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem at the hands of Nebuchadnessar, the Torah was lost. Since there was none who remembered the law when the Jews returned from captivity, God raised up Ezra from the dead a hundred years after his death. When the Jews saw him thus raised from the dead, they said he must be the son of God. This is the contested view of some scholars. This raising from the dead is confused with another incident which actually took place to someone else and which is narrated in the Holy Qur’an in 2:261. It involves Bal’am (Balam) ibn Ba’r, a learned Israelite, who passed by a dead town (some say Antioch or one of its suburbs) and wondered how God would bring it back to life. The Almighty caused him to die then raised him back to life to see for himself that He can do anything at all."

https://www.al-islam.org/ninety-nine-attributes-allah-yasin-t-al-jibouri...

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ezra-nama

https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/ezra-book-of

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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 2 mesi fa

Tahrif in Quran is impossible and it is against our Shia faith. 
'If a person claims Tahrif, we need to ask him for authentic evidence of his claim then reply him with our authentic evidence from Ahlul Bayt (AS).

Wassalam.

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Hassanain Govani, Hassanain Govani is based in Sweden and has an MA in History of Religion from Uppsala University and an MA in Islamic Studies from the Islamic College of London, and has also studied Arabic in... Answer updated 2 mesi fa

Salaamun Alaykum

As you have quite correctly pointed out, the primary emphasize of the Qur'anic cosmology is to identify the creative agent behind it, not the particulars of creation itself. As such, very few specifics are mentioned about the process itself. (Although a few details have been mentioned, these are not sufficient to provide an exhaustive creation story.)

The big bang theory is a scientific hypothesis that was originally theorized by a Catholic priest who also was a scientist. Before this theory, many scientist subscribed to the view that the universe was eternal. I point this out to demonstrate that science is constantly evolving.

The big bang theory is indeed supported by many observations. If you find that the evidence/observations support the hypothesis, then you do not need permission from someone else to accept it as an explanation for how our universe came about. In the same manner, if someone is not convinced by the evidence, then no matter what any authority says, they will not accept it.

From the Quranic perspective, what is important is that you recognize God as the creator of everything.

I would, however, suggest phrasing this differently. If the evidence convinces you, I would suggest saying that "I accept the big bang theory as the most convincing explanation of the evidence".

And God knows best

In need of your prayers

Hassanain
 

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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 2 mesi fa

Any way of reciting Quran is great. No doubt, reciting the whole Quran has its own importance.

Wassalam.