Rebecca Masterton

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.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

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). 
 

No, they do not need to repeat them.

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.

It may be due to the region in which those scholars live and therefore which types of thought have influenced the idea of spirituality in that region. The term 'irfan' began to be used under the Safavids, to distinguish it from 'Sufism', or 'tasawwuf', which came to be associated with many spurious groups adopting various practices that had little basis in Islam. If we use the term 'Islamic mysticism', it covers a wide range of spiritual trends which have been incorporated into the field. The type of 'irfan' that may be found in Khorasan would differ from that found in Baghdad. Generally, 'irfan' as understood today, includes the thought and practice of mystics, be they Sunni or Shi'i and be their mysticism influence by Platonism or Neo-Platonism. This view of 'irfan' takes an inclusive approach to spiritual tendencies among mystics.

With regard to 'philosophy'  - this term in the Muslim world basically means Platonic-Aritotelian influenced philosophy. There are many other kinds of philosophy also - so the condemnation of philosophy does not mean philosophy per se, but this Greek-influenced trend.

Primarily, both these fields have been disapproved of in narrations attributed to the Imams (as), because both side-line or play down the central pillar of walayah. According to traditional Shi'i narrations, the Imam is the gateway to Allah (swt), the Greatest Sign and the Qutb. Ma'rifah of the Imam = Ma'rifah of God's theophany on earth. There is no greater sign than the Imam (Imam 'Ali (as) says this in Usul al-Kafi). 

The are narrations from the Imams that indicate that certain people used to sit in their circles, learn their doctrines, and then go and attribute those doctrines to themselves. This could be one root of the beginnings of Sufism. Hakim Tirmidhi, in his book Sirat al-Awliya' (The Concept of Sainthood) pretty much repackages the Imami concept of walayah, but replaces the Imam with that of the Saint, or Waliyullah (Friend of God). At the same time, he was writing polemical treatises against the Shi'a. Therefore, those who, in time of the Imams, sat in dhikr circles, or passed on the teachings of the Imams, while effectively breaking their allegiance to the Imam and attributing their teachings to themselves, were condemned. Thus, those who say that 'what it matter where these teachings come from? It all leads back to Allah' overlook the fundamental pillar of walayah and loyalty to the Imam. In effect, if you steal someone's teachings, then those teachings are transmitted on a foundation of betrayal. So there is an ethical problem here.

Some argue that the narrations attributed to the Imams that condemn irfan and philosophy are not authentic. This would require more expert investigation to ascertain their status.

With du'as

Islamically, people that suffer from mental health disorders that involve a change of personality, or a lack of awareness about what they are doing and saying, are not to considered to be in a state of responsibility for their actions. A person can only be obeyed if they are aware of themselves and what they are commanding; if they are in a state of conscious responsibility for their actions. When your husband is more 'himself', stable and conscious of his actions, then he can be obeyed; if he is going through a psychotic episode, and is not aware of the requests, or the consequences of those requests that he is making, then it is not obligatory to follow them. Of course, maintaining love and respect for him remains an obligation.

Today, scientists have found that some types of schizophrenia, which include hearing voices or having visions, may be caused by low copper levels in the body. Please get the person a full check on metal content in their system. One man commenting under the youtube video below says that he managed to cure his brother's schizophrenia:

For deflecting others' negativity which may affect the mental state of someone, it is good to recite 10:81-2; 79:28 and 7:118-22. This is from Tibb A'imma, pps 149-150.

Nahj al-Balagha is an excellent source for understanding what the dunya is for human beings. What the dunya is depends upon how you see it and what you do here.