Fatwas: Part Forty-One

Issued by: Dr. Ahmed Subhy Mansour, translated by: Ahmed Fathy

Having Sex during Fasting

Published in June 21, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Is it right that one has to atone for spoiling the Ramadan fasting by having sex with one's wife?? What atonement is required besides fasting another day instead? A Sunnite fiqh book maintains the view that one must atone for it by fasting 60 consecutive days! Is that true? … What do you think? … Thank you …     

Answer:            

  We think this is a Sunnite balderdash of Al-Bokhary; this has nothing to do with Islam. No one is to have sex with one's spouse during the fasting of Ramadan; marital sex is allowed only by night during Ramadan after breaking the fast at sunset.  

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No Problem

Published in June 19, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … A husband who has two wives desires to have sex with both of them in one bed … Is that OK, provided that both wives agree with that, of course?  … Thank you …  

Answer:

  No problem.

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Foreplay during Fasting

Published in June 19, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I used to have some measure of sexual foreplay with my wife during the days of Ramadan while fasting; but we never had sex during fasting; have we sinned then?! … Thank you …      

Answer:

 No; since no martial sex is practiced, your fasting is valid and OK. Fasting is spoiled if coitus is done.

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Myths of the Cave

Published in June 22, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it a true story or a Sunnite myth that during Muhammad's immigration journey from Mecca to Yathreb, he hid himself inside a cave and was protected by a spider's cobweb and a nest of doves? … Thank you for your time …     

Answer:

 This Sunnite mythological story is refuted by this Quranic verse: "If you do not help him, God has already helped him, when those who disbelieved expelled him, and he was the second of two in the cave. He said to his friend, "Do not worry, God is with us." And God made His tranquility descend upon him, and supported him with forces you did not see, and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest, while the Word of God is the Highest. God is Mighty and Wise." (9:40); this means that no one saw God's troops/hosts that supported Muhammad while he was hidden in the cave. "...None knows the soldiers of your Lord except He..." (74:31). Besides, the Sunnite myth is refuted using reasoning mind and logic; what about the locality of the narrator of the story of the spider and the nest of doves? Was he situated before the cave and then wrote the even during the Abbasid Era 200 years after Muhammad's death?! This is impossible and illogical. Muhammad's biographies are nothing but falsehoods authored for political reasons during the Abbasid Era; yet, Muhammadans believe such nonsense blindly because they refuse to adopt critical thinking regarding such books authored by mortals.   

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Unifying Religions of the World!

Published in June 22, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … A mysterious group has emerged on the internet calling for unifying all religions on the globe, esp. the Abrahamic ones; is it a new trick by atheists aiming to confuse believers or what?! Is there any other religions that believe in the Quranic message conveyed by Muhammad? … What do you think? … Thank you …        

Answer:

  Of course, talking about one religion to the whole world is utter nonsense; there are only two types of religion: celestial one of God (i.e., the Quran preserved by God) and the man-made earthly ones (i.e., the rest of world religions). The three types of the Muhammadans must resort to the Quran as the only criterion if they seek real reform to become real Muslims. Idealistically, People of the Book must resort to the Quran to correct their faith tenets. Other religions deify and sanctify items and mortals and myths beside God the Creator, with imposing the notion of clergy confiscating theological knowledge as mediators between man and God. such man-made religions differ in many respects but they are united in their refusal of monotheistic testimony of (There is no God but Allah) and in their deifying angels and mortals (e.g., Jesus, Muhammad, caliphs, female and male saints, companions/disciples, allies, imams, clergy, ecclesiastics, etc.). Thus, it is silly to talk about one religion to the whole world; one cannot combine the belief in the Quran and the belief in earthly, man-made religions' texts. Imams of such man-made religions reject all types of reform and monotheism. The Quran declares the disbelief of adherents of these earthly, man-made religions. The Muhammadans hate Quranists very much for refusing to add the name of Muhammad to the testimony of monotheism and their refusal to deify Muhammad. Quranists obey God's command of never to distinguish any prophet(s) and to respect them equally, without preferring anyone to the rest as above them. The Muhammadans think of themselves as the Umma/nation of their imaginary deity called Muhammad, while Muhammad for Quranists is a mortal human being who conveyed the Quran; the belief in prophets/messengers is part of Islamic faith as per 2:285-286. Quranists respect the absolute religious freedom of all human beings in performing all their rituals in their houses of worship and at their homes in peace. God prohibits compulsion in religion and urges people to protect all types of houses of worship. God is the Only Judge to settle religious differences among human beings on the Last Day.       

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Staying Up the Night in Worship

Published in June 20, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … What is the exact Quranist notion of spending part of the night in prayers and worship? How different is it from the Sunnite concept of this? … Thank you …    

Answer:

  This means to voluntarily spend part or all of the night (see 73:20) in acts of worship performed in any ways one chooses (e.g., prayers, reading the Quran, and/or glorifying the Name of God). This religious practice is optional and not obligatory like the five prayers, and it is to be done in private and in piety/devoutness and in the fear of the Lord God. those who worship at night will be among the forerunners in Paradise mentioned in the Quranic Chapter 56; dwellers of Paradise are of two types as per the quality and quantity of their good deeds.

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Quranist Facebook Accounts

Published in June 20, 2017

Question:  … Dear Sir, … Why there are no official Twitter and Facebook accounts for Quranists and IQC?  … Why are you not active enough within the social media? … Thank you …         

Answer:

  We wish we could, but we have not enough time and effort to follow any accounts actively; we merely ask of our fellow Quranists to use their own personal accounts to copy and paste links of our Arabic and English articles on our website and our YouTube videos (all of them are subtitled into English). Unfortunately, few Quranists do that. May God come to the help of all of us.

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Retribution for Murder

Published in June 20, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is there a contradiction in retribution for murder between the verses 2:178 and 5:45? I'm sure you will explain to me briefly that there is not any contradiction … Thank you very much in advance …   

Answer:

  There is no contradiction between the verses you mention; we refer you to our book on Naskh, where we prove that no verses replace or supplant one another. 5:45 refers to the Quranic story of the Jews; Quranic stories of ancient peoples are NOT a source for Islamic legislations. In contrast, 2:178 is part of legislations; God alleviates the need for retribution by paying Diyya money as compensation for the family of the murdered person instead of putting the murderer to death, in cases when both the murderer and the victim are in equal social rank. This is a mercy from our Lord God.

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Not Prohibited

Published in June 19, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it prohibited or not to use loudspeakers in wedding parties at night to raise the volume of singing and music? … Thank you …   

Answer:

 We have written before that there are no prohibitions without a Quranic verse. God is the Only Legislator in Islam. There are so many harmful things like addition to drugs and raising volumes of loudspeakers to annoy neighbors, but there are no Quranic prohibitions regarding them. Such matters entail man-made legislations and laws within traditionally accepted notions of justice and public interests, issued and passed by a parliament whose members are representing citizens truly.    

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Qorayish and the People of the Book

Published in May 29, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Did the scriptures ofthe People of the Book help Qorayish to know God and rituals linked to prayers and pilgrimage to Mecca before the advent of the Quran/Islam? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 Not at all. We assert briefly here thatthe People of the Book were better than Qorayish before Islam, and yet, Qorayish tribesmen who feigned conversion to the new religion became worse in their disbelief and polytheism in terms of aggression and violent behavior (i.e., civil war and Arab conquests). Yet Qorayish knew God, before Islam, better than the Muhammadans of today; Qorayish respected the four sacred months of pilgrimage and never waged wars during such months. In contrast, the Muhammadans since the first caliph, Abou Bakr, violated the four sacred months by waging wars in one of them (i.e., Muharram, the first lunar month in the Islamic/Arabic calendar), a habit that has lasted till the present day. Qorayish has demolished the Kaaba in the battle in Mecca between Al-Zubayr and the Umayyads; the latter established the so-called Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to repel people from performing pilgrimage to Mecca. This is polytheism and disbelief in terms of faith and demeanor. Qorayish during Muhammad's lifetime repelled early believers from ever entering the Kaaba Sacred Mosque by occupying it under the pretext of praying, and in later eras, Qorayish maintained control of the Kaaba and all rituals there to lead Arabs into the crime and atrocities of Arab conquests to form an Arab Empire led by the Umayyads who were a faction of the Qorayish tribe. Religion and politics and military raids were mixed and intertwined in an unholy trinity, and this went on during Arab civil wars and armed revolts against caliphs in later decades. Qorayish before the advent of Islam envied the People of the Book and wished for an Arab Ishmaelite prophet of their own; when Muhammad (descendant of Ishmael and Abraham) was sent to them, they rejected the Quranic message he brought. Qorayish worshipped deities, idols, and entombed allies/saints as intercessors and mediators between them and God; such polytheism is surpassed by the one of the Shiite, Sufi, and Sunnite/Wahabi Muhammadans who had countless deities since the Abbasid Era onwards; the Abbasids were descendants of the Qorayish leader Abbas, the paternal uncle of Muhammad.              

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Peace Upon Prophets

Published in May 1, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Why are you refusing the honorific statement (peace and blessings of God be upon him) to be uttered or written obligatory after the names of prophets, especially Muhammad? Most ancient history books mention such phrases, right? … Thank you …         

Answer:

   It is Ok to utter and write it but without making distinction among prophets by making Muhammad above all the rest of them. As for 33:56, it means that the only link between us and Muhammad is to adhere to the Quran he conveyed to us from God. in fact, deifying Muhammad as an immortal god alongside with Allah has begun in the Abbasid Era when oral traditions were written down for the first time. This is clear if you read history books of Al-Tabari and Ibn Saad. This is shown most obviously in the first fake and false biography of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq in the Abbasid Era. Such myths of deifying Muhammad led interpreters of the Quran in their exegeses to twist and distort meanings of many Quranic verses, including 33:56, to assert other myths like intercession of Muhammad in the Hereafter and like countless hadiths predicting the future, though the Quran tells us that Muhammad knew nothing about the metaphysical realm. By the way, as per the Quran (the only source about the story of Muhammad), people addressed Muhammad during his lifetime using his first name without any honorifics (by saying, O Muhammad, ...). Likewise, other peoples addressed their prophets in the same manner: (O, Moses,...); (O, Jesus son of Mary, ...). Thus, companions and contemporaries of Muhammad never deified or sanctified him; some of them even addressed him without proper manners and were rebuked for it by God; see 49:1-5. In contrast, authors of the Abbasid Era created a deified image of Muhammad that contradicts his true nature as a mortal human being, as per the Quran. The Quran provides the only true portrayal of Muhammad.        

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To Love One's Country

Published in June 23, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it part of faith in Islam to love one's country? … Thank you …

Answer:

 No; and we prove it by the Quranic command to immigrate if one is weak and persecuted (religiously or otherwise) in one's country. Islamic faith is to believe in God, His angels, His prophets/messengers, and His scriptures; as per 2:285-286. 

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Kaaba Sacred Mosque

Published in June 23, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Why God has chosen Mecca specially for building the Kaaba Sacred Mosque? Why we are to pray in its direction? Other questions about prayers and pilgrimage are as follows:……… I hope I'm not bothering you with my questions … Thank you …     

Answer:

 Please read our books on prayers and on pilgrimage to find possible answers to your queries. The one on pilgrimage is found in English on this link:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=90

By the way, we assert to you briefly here that acts of worship and obeying God's Quranic commands are a test for believers during their lifetimes. You are not to pose questions to God about why he ordained such and such thing/item. We are to obey without questions about reasons for anything ordained in the Quran, if we are really pious believers. This is if we desire to pass the test of obedience and to enter into Paradise. Iblis/Satan failed this test and adamantly insisted on disobeying God's command to prostrate to Adam and asked why Adam was created. Satan defiantly debated with God and disobeyed Him. Satan is cursed and banished, and will be punished in Hell along with those who followed the footsteps of Satan. Real believers obey God, and they do not imitate Satan's disobedience.    

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Good Deeds and Sins

Published in June 23, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Does the performance of so many good deeds and extra acts of worship allows one to sin as often as one likes?! My brother commits grave sins (e.g., fornication) and when I advise him, he tells me he atones for them by imploring God for pardon and performing many good deeds and acts of worship as a form of expiation; he says everyone around him do this normally and go on having sex without marriage! I think he is surely in the wrong … What do you think? … Thank you …   

Answer:

 Of course, your brother is in the wrong; repentance includes never to repeat the sins first before asking for pardon for the rest of one's life and performance of many good deeds an acts of worship (zakat, charity, prayers, etc.). Your brother is sinful in justifying his continued sinning by performing extra acts of worship and good deeds; if he dies without real repentance, he will enter into Hell: "Repentance is available from God for those who commit evil out of ignorance, and then repent soon after. These-God will relent towards them. God is Knowing and Wise. But repentance is not available for those who commit evils, until when death approaches one of them, he says, "Now I repent," nor for those who die as disbelievers. These-We have prepared for them a painful torment." (4:17-18). Good deeds and acts of worship remove sins only if one repents sincerely: "Perform the prayer at the borders of the day, and during the approaches of the night. The good deeds take away the bad deeds. This is a reminder for those who remember." (11:114). Acts of worship must lead to piety as repentant persons should be bent on never to fall into the trap of sins ever again for the rest of their lives. "And those who do not implore besides God any other god, and do not kill the soul which God has made sacred - except in the pursuit of justice - and do not commit adultery. Whoever does that will face penalties. The punishment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will dwell therein in humiliation forever.Except for those who repent, and believe, and do good deeds. These - God will replace their bad deeds with good deeds. God is ever Forgiving and Merciful. Whoever repents and acts righteously has inclined towards God with repentance." (25:68-71).

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A Christian President

Published in January 28, 2007

Question: … Dear Sir, … In most Arab and 'Islamic' countries, we find the Constitution stipulates that presidents must be Muslims; why is that? There is no equality and justice here among citizens; besides, why cannot we have a female president? Why these countries signed the UN charters then? What do you think? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 You can find answer(s) to your query in many of our articles and books published on our website; briefly, we assert here that in a really Quran-based rule, all citizens are equal regardless of color, race, sex, and religious affiliation, as was the case in the Yathreb city-state; please read our article analyzing the Quranic Chapter 60. We have written before that the UN charters are nearer to Quranic sharia laws and we recommend that they replace the source of legislation and constitutions in Arab countries. This view is repeated in our articles and interviews (e.g., the interview of ours at the website copts-united.com). In addition, we call for the international UN charters and human rights to be source of legislations instead of the Sunnite Wahabi sharia (deemed by Muhammadans as 'Islamic'). Please read more within our website before posing repeated questions.  

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Polygamy Again

Published in April 17, 2012

Question: … Dear Sir, … The verse 4:3 stipulates that polygamy is endorsed to care for orphans and their widowed mother; yet, you have said that a man can marry even more than four wives, without limits and as per mutual consent, including virgin women who have no orphans/children to care about; how come? … Thank you  …  

Answer:

 Originally, marriage is allowed provided that mutual consent between a man and a woman is obtained, within free choice and by means of contracts, dowries, and witnesses. In the verse 4:24, God allows men to marry any women, with any number, beyond the types of women one cannot marry as per 4:22-23. The Quran urges and advises men seeking polygamy to give priority to widows and divorced women with children.   

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General Legislation?

Published in September 27, 2016

Question: …  Dear Sir, … As for Quranic commands addressed to Prophet Muhammad, are they addressed to all believers, as well, in general? This question is persisting in my mind since I read 17:23-30, but what about other Quranic Chapters with commands addressed to Prophet Muhammad, like Chapter 33? … Thank you …

Answer:

 Most Quranic commands addressed to Muhammad are also addressed to all believers, except for certain ones within special legislations pertaining to Muhammad and his wives; e.g., in the Quranic Chapters 33 and 49.

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Muhammad's City-State

Published in February 5, 2015

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I have greatest doubts on the subject; Muhammad had no city-state in Yathreb and he was no political leader or ruler … The Quran contains no verses describing any political regime (civil or theocratic), right? … Besides, all Quranists reject biographies of Muhammad as false, right? …  What do you think? … Thank you …     

Answer:

 Of course, all biographies and hadiths ascribed to Muhammad are 100% false. Please read our article about the direct democracy in the Yathreb city-state, inferred from Quranic verses, esp. the last three verses of the Quranic Chapter 24 and within the Quranic Chapter 60. Certain conditions led Muhammad to establish this city-state, with its army, borders, allegiance, relations with outsiders, etc.  

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The Fatimid Post-Ramadan Feast

Published in November 25, 2012

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it true that (Eid Al-Fitr) or the feast located in the three days after Ramadan, a mere invention by the Fatimids in Egypt in the Middle Ages? … Thank you …    

Answer:

 Of course; Islam contains no feasts at all; the Quran contains no mention of such things as part of rituals. Before the Shiite Fatimids conquered Egypt, the vast majority of the Egyptians were Coptic Orthodox, and the Fatimids tried every possible peaceful ways to convince Egyptians to convert to the Shiite religion as if it were Islam. The Fatimids built the city of Cairo and Al-Azhar Mosque, and they celebrated so many Egyptian/Pharaonic feasts as well as Orthodox and Shiite ones. All desserts of Eid Al-Fitr are made first by the Fatimids. Fatimid caliphs celebrated in the streets with the dwellers of Cairo and used to distribute money and desserts to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Such desserts were made upon orders of the Fatimid caliphs in certain factories with storehouses for flour, sugar, raisins, fruits, nuts, etc. Such festivities were among endeavors to make most Egyptians convert to the Shiite religion. 

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General and Specific Address

Published in November 15, 2013

Question: … Dear Sir, … How could we know that a Quranic verse is addressing only Muhammad and/or all believers in general? … Thank you …   

Answer:

 All verses that address Muhammad are addressing us as well, with the exception of some verses that are specifically addressed to him during his lifetime and we infer from the context that we cannot apply them; e.g., see 33:50-52 about marriages of Muhammad and 33:53 about rules applicable only during Muhammad's lifetime. In contrast, other Quranic verses' contexts are addressing both Muhammad and all believing people; e.g., 66:9, 9:73, 39:1-2, 39:12-14, 39:41, and 43:43.