Doubt

Doubt is a mental state in which the mind remains suspended between two or more contradictory propositions, unable to assent to any of them.

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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 month ago

It is not allowed to invest in a fund or indent which invests even partly in unlawful business like usury, alcohol, gambling etc.

'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 months ago

The Marja' of Taqleed is the most or one of the most knowledgeable jurisprudence's experts,who has done full research and authentic evidence on his verdict. Unexperts can not be certain or uncertain about a Fatwa because they have no experience on juridrudence. Highest medical scientist does need his patients to be certain or uncertain when he has his scientific evidence on what he should do with a certain medical condition. Following the highest expert does not mean blind following but an enlightened following because your reason tells you to follow the most knowledgeable in every subject.

'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 6 months ago

Waswas is from Shaitan and no way to get rid of it but to drive Shaitan away. You need to focus on the fact that it is from your worst enemy (Shaitan) and seek help from Allah, The Most Exalted, to protect you from Shaitan.
Repeating Estighfaar, and Salawaat and LA HAWLA WALA QOWWATA ILLA BILLAH  can be very helpful.

'Wassalam.

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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 9 months ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. The first step it to not be too harsh on yourself. Allah forgives all sins and most humans follow a path of mistakes before enlightenment. While you should avoid sin, even if you do sin don't be so hard on yourself that it effects your faith but instead seek a way back and try to reform. Seek forgiveness and make an intention to make meaningful changes and follow a good way. It is to then sincerely seek the truth and try and find it through knowledge and self purification until you manage to establish your feet on the straight path.

May you always be successful 

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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 10 months ago

Yes, your Ghusl is valid.

Wassalam.

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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 1 year ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. The journey to eliminate doubt is different for different people. Instead of ignoring doubt, try holding doubt until you find answers that will satisfy those doubts such that your heart can follow. Having doubts does not take you out of the fold of Islam.

May you always be successful.

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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 year ago

Yes, we can pray for them as far as we are not sure that they are disbelievers.

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 year ago

Doubt in the number of the units (Rak'ats) has different types, some of the doubts are irreparable and Salah is invalid if doubt remains like doubt during morning and Maghrib Prayers and doubts in the first two Rak'ats in any Prayer.

There are repairable doubts  which are during any of the four units Prayers (Dhuhr, Asr and Isha) if it happens after completing the second Rak'ah.

Your doubt between third or forth Rak'ah is repairable. You should consider your Rak'ah as the forth and complete your Prayer then stand up for just one Rak'ah of Salatul Ehtiyat which is just reciting Sura Al-Hamd then Ruku' then two Sajda then Salam.

You wrote that you performed another unit. That made the number of units reach to five which is incorrect.

You should repeat that Prayer to be sure that you fulfilled a proper Prayer of four units only.

'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 year ago

Repeated doubts in worship acts like Wudu, Ghusl, Namaz etc should ignored.

It is always good to seek forgiveness even if you are not sure about the sin. The Prophet (SAWA) used to repeat Istighfaar despite the fact the he was the greatest Infallible. Istighfaar by itself has lot of benefits in our life here and hereafter.

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 1 year ago

There isn't a fixed yes or no answer to this question - it depends on your circumstances and yourself.

Personally, I think it is extremely helpful for people going into the study of Islam to have another career or vocation. This keeps you from financial dependency or desperation and makes you more free to study what you like for however long you feel is beneficial. This is especially if you are female and financially responsible for yourself or others, since men have certain financial opportunities that women don't; for instance, most imams of mosques are men, and usually men have more opportunities for paid services such as tabligh and majalis. 

Then, in the future, if the opportunity arises, you could shift to work in the area of Islamic studies, or full-time studies, if that is what seems right. 

So, you could try to do both - that is, maintain a separate job or career path, and do Islamic studies part-time on the side. (If you are not already doing this, and if you have the time and energy for it, of course - it is a commitment.) This would also allow you to see if it is right for you; for instance, some people think they want to go to hawza or do full time Islamic studies, but then decide after a couple years that it's not the right thing for them, and then sometmes it is a lot of work to get back onto a different career track.

Of course, the drawback is that you will miss out on an immersive experience, such as living at a hawza, but it can be a good way to feel things out. 

You could consider what career you might pursue after your studies - for instance, working at a mosque, chaplaincy, university teaching,  madrasa teaching, writing/translation, counselling, tabligh, or something completely different - and how available work is in that area, and much you would expect to earn.

You could also consider your skill sets that you would use after your studies - for instance, whether you feel most comfortable with things like leadership, management, oratory, social work, academics, and so forth. Of course, sometimes we discover that through experience. 

Conversely, you could also look at yourself as an engineer - is it something that suits you and feel like you would miss if you left it and see a future for yourself in, or is it something you don't think you would get much further with or feel blocked in.

If you are 100% committed to pursuing Islamic studies, don't worry about negativity from people around you; however, it is still good to pay attention to some of the practical considerations they might bring up. 

Similarly, if you are 100% committed to pursuing Islamic studies, then I would say just trust in Allah and go forward with it. The above advice is for if you are not certain. 

Sometimes, Allah makes the decision easy for us by forcing us one way or the other! However, in the meantime, of course, pray for guidance and talk to people around you. 

Allah does sustains us, but the reality is that many people who work in this area suffer from financial frustrations, unless they have a secure and suitably paying position of some sort, or other resources (inheritance, investments, etc). 

I will leave you with a short story. Back in my younger years, when I was attending university, I used to study computer science (which was very competitive to get into and we were considered the lucky ones who were on top of the world). I decided that I was going to pursue Islamic studies and begin that by changing my major to Near Eastern Studies (the closest thing to Islamic Studies).

So, I went to one of our professors, a well-known Muslim, and told him the good news. "I'm going to change to a Near Eastern Studies major," I said.

He looked at me and said just one word. "DON'T."

Anyway, I did it anyway, but I have come to understand why he said what he did. 
 

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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 years ago

Our worst enemy (Shaitan) tries to disturb us in different ways including creating doubts in our minds which can be blasphemous and very disturbing. Our feeling that these doubts are bad is a sign that we reject it and don't believe in it. We need to deal with any doubt with proper thinking to be very clear that these doubts are untrue. We also need to seek refuge in Allah from satanic whispering by repeating (A'OOTHO BILLAH MINASHSHAITAN ARRAJEEM أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم

Repeating LA ILAAHA ILLALLAH لا إله إلا الله is also very useful in driving away Shaitan from our mind.

Repeating reciting Sura Al-Tawheed is also very useful in this regard.

Generall, any form of Thikrullah ( remembering Allah) is useful for protection from satanic evil.

'You should not feel guilty because you did not believe in the Satanic doubts, but keep on seeking refuge in Allah and seeking His help and support.

Wassalam.

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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 years ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. It depends on the type of doubts in your mind. If you have inner certainty on these matters but at the same time have waswas that even shocks you at times, this kind of waswas needs to be ignored completely. It is like someone proviking you who will say anything just to get a reaction. You won't prove anything as that is not the goal and it definitely is not haram to ignore this kind of waswas as it is the cure for it.
 

But if those doubts are deep within your being and not just on the surface of your mind, you should look for answers from those who are able to answer them to your full satisfaction. At the same time, if these doubts are within you then it is important to seek help from the Divine to show you that which will satisfy your doubts. Allah will guide you as He has guided those before you.

May you always be successful