1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

78 Questions

When asking Allah for ease in this life, is it wrong to expect difficulty? When thinking of the verses and Hadith where Allah tells us that we will go through hardship, it can sometimes confuse me that should I expect hardship or ease?
Zoheir Ali Esmail

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Perhaps the way to understand asking for ease is that we ask for ease in those things that can be made easier for us without compromising what is really good for us. That is that we make things unnecessarily difficult for ourselves through numerous mistakes and miscalculations and so we ask Allah to mitigate those difficulties that are out of a lack of wisdom. But test and difficulty are a part of the development of an Islamic personality rooted in faith and those with higher capacities can be tested with more extreme difficulties. That difficulty can be whilst being surrounded by material ease, and it is through those difficulties that a higher form of ease is found. When a person is needless of all except God, they are at ease despite whatever circumstance they find themselves in.

May you always be successful
If in a life or death situation where starvation will be the cause of death and you are forced to have pork, is it permissible not to eat it and allow yourself to die?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Usually we deal with questions related to practical issues which people experience in their day to day life. Your question looks like very far from day to day life, nevertheless if you want the answer for knowledge, it is obligatory to save our life. Deliberate failure in saving life and causing death is a sinful act. It is not permissible to cause death to yourself even if the only food available to remain alive is pork, but no more than what make you survive.

'Wassalam.
How can I break a very long spell of bad luck in my life?
Amina Inloes

What comes across as bad luck can be for a variety of reasons. Sometimes it can be a sign that we are not meant to do certain things, for instance, if we try to get a certain type of job repeatedly and are unable to do so. Sometimes it just happens for no apparent reason.

If you are concerned there may be a metaphysical reason for your bad luck (evil eye, cursework, etc), you could contact a reliable and trustworthy scholar with practical experience in these matters who could further advise you on that. If someone is suffering from bad luck for no apparent reason (e.g. they have freak accidents repeatedly although they are careful), it is worth looking into that sort of thing.

Some overall suggestions to bring blessings into your life (you may or may not be doing these things, I am just putting them out there in general):

* Reciting the Qur'an or playing it in the background, especially parts of the Qur'an recommended for things such as attracting sustenance, like Surat al-Waqi'ah
* Prayers for the deceased, including relatives and the mu'mineen
* Maintaining good ties with family (if it is appropriate to your situation)
* Hosting guests
* Holding religious gatherings such as majalis in your home (if it is possible)
* Praying the 5 daily prayers regularly with focus
* Keeping a clean and calm environment around you (as much as possible)
* Avoiding haraam acts or places where haraam acts are committed
* Keeping things like the 99 names of Allah or Qur'anic ayat on the walls (assuming you have a place to stay)
* Some narrations suggest keeping small animals, like birds, around also. 

I hope your long stretch of bad luck ends soon!
Will Imam Mehdi know who he is straight away or will he have a normal life first?
Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi

Imam Al-Mahdi (AS) knows from beginning that he is the last successor of the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) and the Infallible Imam and Hujjah on all. His life is always a normal life like the life of the Prophet and other infallible Imams.

Wassalam.