Fatwas: Part Nine

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

When Kneeling during Prayers

Published in December 26, 2016

Question: … I always say certain Quranic verses while kneeling during prayers … Is it OK or there is a certain phrase or way of praising and glorifying God that I should follow? What do you think? Thanks for your time.

Answer:

    It is OK to utter any praises of God and any Quranic verses while praying, but with piety and reverence inside your heart all the time. It is a bad human habit to focus on the form or style of prayers instead of the essence of prayers; this essence is piety and total concentration in prayers and sticking to piety in all our lifetimes by peaceful behavior and never committing evil or unjust acts. Prayers are the source of goodness and rich rewards within the demeanor of real believers and in the Hereafter; heed and mark these words very well. We implore the Almighty to accept our fervent prayers and never to think us among those who lost their prayers and followed their lusts and appetites.

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 Election of the Pope

Published in March 13, 2013

Question: … What's your opinion about the Vatican way to elect their popes? …

Answer:

  Catholicism is an earthly, man-made, fabricated religion owned by its authors and keepers and it has nothing to do with God. hence, they are free to do whatever things they like as to apply it in any way. But at least they elect a leader, unlike the culture of tyranny of appointing and inheriting posts among the clergymen of the Sunnites, Shiites, and Sufis. 

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Memorizing the Quran Is Not a Religious Duty

Published in May 6, 2007

Question: … Is it a religious duty or obligation for real believers in the Quran to memorize the entirety of the Quran by heart though rote learning? Or we are only to ponder and reflect deeply upon Quranic verses? … Why Sunnite clergymen insist on urging others to memorize it by heart? … Thank you …

Answer:

  It is not obligatory for anyone to memorize the Quranic text; this is not a religious duty at all, as it is never mentioned by the Quran. maybe specialists in religious studies memorize it, but it is up to them. As for real believers duty toward the Quran, it is to read and study it, to reflect and ponder upon it, and to listen to it when recited to them. These are the duty mentioned in the Quran. Those who cannot study it like researchers because they are undereducated, those who are illiterate, and those who are deaf and blind are exempted from pondering and reflection and reading the Quran.

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Hassan Al-Banna and Ahmed Fathy

Published in September 2, 2015

Question: … Why letting a Quranist writer, named Ahmed Fathy, in an article of his, to criticize and verbally abuse the late great leader and thinker the martyr Hassan Al-Banna … Why this article is not deleted and why the writer's account and page are not deleted?! Quranists must choose their words very well if they are really pious, the writer is a nobody, and he is insulting a great man of Islam…   

Answer:

Firstly: We welcome you as a novice and a reader registered on our website; we hope you will be a good Quranist very soon. You clearly have not read the entire archive of our books; please read our book titled "The Wahabi Opposition Movements in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the Twentieth Century". You will find out that the terrorist Hassan Al-Banna, founder of the terrorist mafia-like Wahabi MB organization, is an agent of the KSA and GB, who received money from both countries, and there is a famous photo of him kneeling to kiss the hand of King Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud. Hassan Al-Banna is a killer and an assassin, and this historical fact is undeniable; he was the one responsible for the assassination of Egyptian judges and prime ministers and other high-rank officials in Cairo, before he himself was assassinated in 1949. This terrorist was the one responsible for the Yemeni military coup d'état in Yemen and the assassination of the Yemeni imam/king at the time. If you read a lot, you will get to know more about the heinous crimes of the terrorist MB.     

Secondly: When you read the entirety of our archive of books and articles, you will know that our Quranism entails that we, and our fellow Quranists, should mentions facts and truths without caring for anyone who would blame us; we never impose our opinions on anyone at all; rather, we raise readers' awareness in our intellectual peaceful endeavors seeking reform on all levels. We do not care about the number of people who believe us or who do not believe us; saying and writing the truth is not verbal abuse: Hassan Al-Banna was a murderer.  

Thirdly: We disagree with you and your negative opinion of Mr. Ahmed Fathy; he is a very cultured youth and an excellent researcher and translator who knows both English and French, and he is the one undertaking the arduous task to translate Quranist books and articles authored by us. We take pride in him as a Quranist writer/translator on our website whose voluntary work in Quranist translation is appreciated. It is you who verbally abuse Ahmed Fathy and you dare to praise the murderer Hassan Al-Banna.  

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What Is Not Mentioned in the Quran

Published in October 9, 2006

Question: …Can I pose a question to you? … Pardon me, but if one is to rely solely on the Quran while denying Sunna and hadiths, would one find difficulties in issuing fatwas or adopting a view/edict in fiqh (i.e., jurisprudence) about matters and issues never mentioned in the Quran? … Thank you …

Answer:

   Firstly: God says the following about the Quran: "…We have revealed to you the Book, as an explanation of all things…" (16:89). This means that the Quran explains everything related to God's religion and never leaving any details required in belief/faith: "…We neglected nothing in the Book…" (6:38). Therefore, what is not mentioned in the Quran is not related to Islam and you should not look for it inside the Quran. anything that people ascribe to Islam which is never mentioned in the Quran is NOT part of Islam; this applies to all tenets and notions of the Muhammadans in their Sunnite, Sufi, and Shiite religions (e.g., washing corpses of the dead persons before burial, feasts after Hajj and Ramadan, etc.) as centuries-old traditions and customs are not part of Islam (Quranism) at all however widely spread and applied they are. A worst crime is to falsely ascribe things to God and Muhammad, thus accusing the Quran of being incomplete and in need of an outside man-made source to interpret it or to add anything to it. This is blasphemous indeed.     

   Secondly: The Quran is made easy for people to read, understand, and remember its teachings; some verses are direct commands and legislations in simple style addressing minds of readers without metaphoric language, while this ornate metaphoric language is adopted in other verses that preach and talk about faith and within Quranic stories, in order to emotionally appeal to the hearts of readers. It is a mercy in the Quran that some verses repeat, sometimes in brief and sometimes in detail, what is found in other verses of legislations and some Quranic stories, for us to ponder and reflect upon deeply to deduce views and rules. Thus, the Quran in its entirety is the only source of anything related to the Islamic faith, and anything outside this source is not obligatory for real believers to follow or do. Quranic legislations are not so many and they are easy to understand and apply by the pious ones.

  Thirdly: some may claim that not all people are educated or qualified to research inside the Quran to deduce rules and fatwas/edicts from it. To answer them we use the Quran itself: its verses tell us to ask those who are knowledgeable in the Quran. Quranists might be regarded as such, but not in a way that resembles clergymen. The notion of clergymen is never found in Islam (Quranism) at all and it is a heretic un-Islamic notion to us. Quranist ascribe their Quranist reflections and deduced ideas to themselves and not to God. To be knowledgeable in the Quran means to research inside it by collecting and combining verses containing the same topics or terminologies together to deduce meanings and edicts ascribed to the author's mind. Such knowledge must be reflected in one's pious behavior and peaceful demeanor while asserting justice and fairness.      

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Quranic Legislations Only for Muhammad

Published in November 7, 2008

Question: …Is there any Quranic legislations confined only to Prophet Muhammad and not the rest of Muslims? What it your Quranist view on that issue? Thank you …

Answer:

  The answer is: yes, definitely. There are some Quranic legislations confined only to Muhammad during his lifetime related to his wives and marriage (e.g., see 33:6 and 33:50-55), and we will soon write an article on that topic that will give more details to answer your question. 

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Private Lessons

Published in March 18, 2013

Question: … Dear Dr. Mansour, … I am a teacher who regularly tutor some pupils at their homes privately and their parents give me money for it; those pupils need private lessons to further understand the curricula. My salary is not enough and I need this extra source of revenue. Is that OK as far as Quranism is concerned? What do you think? …  Thank you.

Answer:

  It is not prohibited to give private lessons in return for money when hired to do so by parents of students and pupils, but you must gratify God first by explaining these lessons in class in an excellent manner to pupils, in a way that makes your conscience clear and not to drive them by force to need your help via paid private lessons; you are not to exert less efforts in your original work in class for whatever reason; beware of God and do your duty in class first.

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The Shiite Twelver Doctrine

Published in January 15, 2015

Question: … I agree with many of tour Quranist views … But what is your opinion about the Shiite Twelver doctrine in Iran? … Thank you for your time.

Answer:

  We consider the Twelver Shiite doctrine (and the same applies also to the religions, doctrines, and denominations of Sufis, Sunnites, Shiites, Catholics, protestants, Orthodox, Buddhists, etc.) as an earthly, man-made, fabricated religion that has nothing to do with God's only religion: the Quran. This is in terms of faith/belief. Thus, for Quranists, the only celestial, divine religion is Islam (i.e., literally, submission to God) which is the message conveyed by all prophets of God in all tongues and locations, and the last version of this divine message is in Arabic of the Quran. hence, Quranist believe that the Islamic faith is only the Quran. As for the human-rights point of view, we stand for the defense of all rights of all weak, oppressed ones anywhere on planet earth, especially those who are religiously persecuted, and among the persecuted groups are Shiites in Egypt and Arabia.       

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This Sunnite Backwardness

Published in December 6, 2015

Question: … I disagree totally with you … It is difficult to believe that all Sunna and hadiths books are trash and filled with falsehoods while you quote Arabic poems as well as Arab history, heritage, and traditions while never casting doubts on such books! … Shame on you!     

Answer:

   Divine religion is never contained in books authored by human beings, like books of history, poetry, music, literature, heritage, hadiths, narratives, anecdotes, philosophy, etc., and no human author is infallible. Hence,  real Islam and religion is found only in God's Word: the Quran. other books are authored by people, and they might contain right/true or wrong/false content, and in both cases, these books can never be part of the religion of God. Many literary works are great and contain wisdom, and many other literary works are badly written, pornographic, propagating immorality and falsehoods about life and religion, etc. All of such books are authored by people and have faults and merits. As for Quranists, they deny that any man-made discourses and narratives could be part of Islam, especially the so-called hadiths falsely ascribed to Muhammad; hadiths are never a divine revelation and never part of Islam. Read more on our website for more evidence to support his fact. This Wahabi Sunnite backwardness has corrupted education in Egypt and led you to send us your hate email message. May God come to our aid against Sunnite ignoramuses.    

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God Have Mercy upon his Soul

Published in June 20, 2014

Question: … As a Quranist, I agree totally with you about the fact that one cannot add any good deeds to the record of a deceased person … But I need to do anything for the sake of the memory of my dad who died recently and express my love and gratitude for him … What shall I do? What do you think? …   

Answer:

     It is a Quranic command to implore God to have mercy on one's (living or dead) parents: "Your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him, and that you be good to your parents. If either of them or both of them reach old age with you, do not say to them a word of disrespect, nor scold them, but say to them kind words. And lower to them the wing of humility, out of mercy, and say, "My Lord, have mercy on them, as they raised me when I was a child."" (17:23-24). This does not mean that the dead person will benefit by imploring and supplication of the living; the dead person had seen angels of death telling him/her about their fate (i.e., Hell or Paradise) as per faith and deeds. As for your ardent desire to pay homage to the memory of your father, this should be expressed by executing his will, doing what he wished for, fulfilling unfinished things he wanted to finish, and treating kindly those loved ones dear to him. In short, be a good son whose upbringing by a good father is reflected in all his demeanor; this way, your father's memory will live on.        

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I Discovered Your Deceit Dr. Mansour!

Published in October 29, 2012

Question:  … The moment I read your articles expressing utter contempt for Sunna and hadiths and about your marriage contracts and ceremonies you perform to marry off Muslim women to non-Muslim men, I discovered your deceit, Dr. Mansour!  … You are an inveterate liar, an infidel apostate, a cursed blasphemer, and a dirty disbeliever in God who would like to spread atheism in the Arab world … You will certainly roast in Hell for eternity like any decomposed corpse if you do not repent from your invented Quranism! …

Answer:

     We hope that God will make us enter into Paradise for our reformist endeavors.

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A Veritable Foe

Published in August 9, 2012

Question: … I'm from the UAE … I'm disgusted by reading your nauseating blasphemous articles! You are insulting Prophet Muhammad and denying his existence! You insult and vilify his infallible companions who are my heroes! You distort the meanings of the Holy Quran! You are the real enemy of Islam! You are the brood of Satan! Quranists are brood of vipers of modern times! Satan is surely so proud of all of them! You are a plague! May God curse you and cause your imminent death! May you rot forever in Hell for deceiving Muslims!  …

Answer:

  Our inevitable gathering during the Day of Resurrection is an undeniable fact; on that day, all of us will gather before the Almighty Lord to judge our differences in faith and settle our disputes. Beware of God! 

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Satan's Punishment

Published in November 3, 2008

Question: … Why God does not mention the punishment of Satan/Iblis in the Hereafter on the Resurrection Day? … Why do you consider Arab conquests to be an evil crime? If it had not been for them, Islam would not have been known in many regions around the globe … What do you think? …   

Answer:

  God mentions in the Quran that He postponed the punishment of Iblis till the Day of Resurrection; see 7:14-18. Iblis and the rest of the devils will reside forever in Hell along with those whom they misguided and he and devils will debate with Hell dwellers among the sinners; see 14:22. As for the crime that came to be known as Arab conquests, it has nothing to do with Islam at all; they were never the reason behind spreading Islam in India, China, South-Eastern Asia, etc. Please read our article on conquests of the caliph Omar and how Arabs at the time never cared to convert anyone at all. 

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Feasts Commemorating the Dead

Published in November 22, 2014

Question: … Can we celebrate birth days of Jesus and Muhammad? What about national feasts like Spring feast in Egypt, Kurdistan, and Iran? Is celebrating feasts of the Muhammadans after Ramadan and Hajj OK for Quranists without doing religious acts or rituals of the Sufis, Sunnites, and Shiites? … Thank you for your time …

Answer:

   1- It is permissible to celebrate any secular feasts or holidays that has nothing to do with religion. Of course, any immoral behavior or disobedience is forbidden all the times.

   2- The two main feasts of the Muhammadans can be celebrated in terms of doing charity and in terms of secular festivity, while not participating in anything religious in them.

  3- It is absolutely forbidden to participate or celebrate feasts that commemorate the Sufi and Shiites saints or deities, and we are not to celebrate feasts dedicated to any prophet of God (esp. Jesus and Muhammad as they were deified after their death). Such feasts are pagan celebrations of dead people who are deemed immortal by the polytheists. This applies to any feasts of religious nature. Islam (the Quran alone) has not mentioned the very notion of any religious feasts of any type. To celebrate the birth of Muhammad (or Jesus or Moses, etc.) is to deify him as immortal supreme deity, and this is blasphemous act of polytheism of course. The other reason for Quranists to refuse such feasts is that they are additional items forced upon Islam, but the Quran is innocent of such rituals and such added items fabricated by people.      

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Salafist Girls

Published in March 22, 2016

Question: … May God reward and help you in your intellectual endeavors of reform, Dr. Mansour … You cleanse Arab brains from poisonous Salafist, Wahabi notions and tenets that caused Arab world to be backward … Salafist girls are time bombs who suffer female genital mutilation and think veils and niqabs that stifling them, and male patriarchal societies that oppress and suppress them … they will be wives and mothers who will breed and produce a generation of terrorists … What do you think? Could you please tell us about dress code for women at the time of Prophet Muhammad? … Thank you …

Answer:

 We have talked a lot about dress-code for women and its accessories within a number of episodes of our program "Exposing Salafism" on YouTube. Please watch these episodes. We refer you also here to our article (in English) about the veil and niqab, on the following link:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=5892

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Struggle Between the MB and the Military Mubarak Regime

Published in August 24, 2007

Question: … The military Mubarak regime in Egypt incarcerates members of the MB group within unfair trials … Why do not you defend the MB as you in your articles defend human rights and denounce injustices? Thank you …    

Answer:

  Of course, we personally are against any type of injustices inflicted on and suffered by any person, and we defend the wronged parties regardless of their religious, intellectual, and political affiliations and stances that differed from ours as a Quranist thinker. These are the higher values of the Quran and they match the culture of human rights in our modern times. Yet, this does not apply to the MB terrorist organization; they are NOT a wringed party being oppressed by Mubarak. Indeed, they occupy seats in the Egyptian Parliament. There are many episodes in this era of the struggle between the military rulers and the terrorist MB members (and all Wahabi Salafist extremists as well) in their quest for transient material and political gains and to ascend to power. Even imprisoned Mb members are living luxuriously in cells similar to five-star hotels, with their disciples and families visiting them anytime without restrictions, to the extent that their wives have sex with them in prison and get impregnated. This means that Mubarak overlook the MB activities even if he incarcerates some members of them. We tend to think that incarceration of MB in Egypt is a masquerade to improve their image in the West as they opened channels of talks with the USA to enable them to reach power in Egypt one day after the son of Mubarak would take his chance to succeed his father first. Hence both Mubarak military rule and the MB terrorist group are two sides of one coin of tyranny: hatred of human rights and democracy. We, as a Quranist thinker, has nothing to do with such struggle for power and we support neither party; as both are corrupters on earth.

  Instead, we support and side with the poor, weak ones who are persecuted and oppressed, such as Egyptian human rights activists and free thinkers/writers/journalists who are imprisoned and the ordinary poor masses who are tortured in police stations and by security forces.   

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Torment of the Grave and Its Snake

Published in April 16, 2008

Question: … Dear Dr. Mansour, … I'm convinced by your article about denying the myth of torment of the grave and the mythical snake beating severely dead people in their tombs and graveyards … but I would like you to tell me more by telling your personal reading of the Quranic verses about torment and punishment I enclosed with this email message … Thank you in advance …  

Answer:

1- "For those who do wrong, there is a punishment besides that; but most of them do not know." (52:47). This verse refers to worldly punishment; God punishes the unjust ones in this world before the next if they do not repent. To prove this, we quote these verses: "We will make them taste the lesser torment, prior to the greater torment, so that they may return. Who is more wrong than he, who, when reminded of his Lord's revelations, turns away from them? We will certainly wreak vengeance upon the criminals." (32:21-22); God has said this to Muhammad about Yathreb hypocrites:  "Let neither their possessions nor their children impress you. God intends to torment them through them in this worldly life, and that their souls depart while they are disbelievers." (9:55); "Do not let their possessions and their children impress you. God desires to torment them through them in this world, and their souls expire while they are disbelievers." (9:85). God has said this to Jesus about disbelievers among his people: "God said, "O Jesus, I am terminating your life, and raising you to Me, and clearing you of those who disbelieve. And I will make those who follow you superior to those who disbelieve, until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return; then I will judge between you regarding what you were disputing." (3:55).

2- "Who does greater wrong than someone who invents falsehood against God, or says, "It was revealed to me," when nothing was revealed to him, or says, "I will reveal the like of what God revealed"? If only you could see the wrongdoers in the floods of death, as the angels with arms outstretched: "Give up your souls. Today you are being repaid with the torment of shame for having said about God other than the truth, and for being too proud to accept His revelations."" (6:93). This verse talks about angels of death who (while taking the souls from bodies) will be telling the unjust, aggressive, and polytheistic ones (who ascribed lies and falsehoods to God) about their fate in Hell; more details on that topic will be mentioned in our book titled "The Book of Death".

3- "Therein they will not taste death, beyond the first death; and He will protect them from the torment of Hell." (44:56). This verse talks about types of deaths detailed in these two verses: "How can you deny God, when you were dead and He gave you life, then He will put you to death, then He will bring you to life, then to Him you will be returned?" (2:28) "They will say, "Our Lord, you made us die twice, and twice you gave us life. Now we acknowledge our sins. Is there any way out?"" (40:11). More details on that topic of Barsakh will be mentioned in our book titled "The Book of Death".

4- "Nor are equal the living and the dead. God causes whomever He wills to hear, but you cannot make those in the graves hear." (35:22). This verse shows that dead corpses inside graves and tombs never feel anything before they are decomposed and turned into dust; hence, the torment of the grave is a Sunnite Wahabi myth.   

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The Curse of Reciting Methods

Published in May 24, 2016

Question: … Dear Dr. Mansour … Sunnites claim that Quran can be recited in seven different methods  that could change pronunciation (and possibly meanings) of words in the Quranic verses … What do you think? … Thank you …  

Answer:

  We, in Quranism, never accept or acknowledge Sunnite myths and narratives, and this one is no exception to this rule. Reciting Quranic verses is like singing them or putting them to music; this is blasphemous contempt and ridicule of the Word of God and a way to divert listeners from pondering and reflecting upon meanings of the Quranic verses, especially ones negating Sunnite myths like intercession, dual testimony instead of monotheistic Quranic one of (There is no God but Allah), deifying mortals especially Muhammad, the Sunnite assumed infallibility of prophets, etc. You must bear in mind that God protects the Quran and its way of writing until the end of days, and this is proven by numerical miracles discoveries inside the Quranic text by Quranist specialists.   

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Vows of a Deceased Father

Published in March 26, 2013

Question: …  Dear Dr. Mansour … My father, before his death, made a vow to God that if his daughter, my sister, would succeed in high school with good grades and manage to enroll into a certain university, he would do a certain act of charity… He did not as he forgot all about it … He died months after my sister joined the faculty and university she likes and this pleased him immensely … Shall we do this charity he vowed to do? Could we do it in lieu of him? Was my father guilty because he did not keep his vow made to God?

Answer:

  Of course, it is a sin not to keep a vow made to God after God has fulfilled our wish. Yet, you cannot perform, execute, or do the vow instead of him now that he died. This sin cannot be revoked and no amends can be done by the living ones for the sake of a deceased person; his record of good and bad deeds is shut and closed forever. Let this be a useful lesson to all of us to keep our vows as we never know the timing of our death; let us ponder on this Quranic story of hypocrites who never fulfilled their vows: "Among them are those who promised God: "If He gives us of His bounty, we will donate and be among the upright." But when He has given them of His bounty, they became stingy with it, and turned away in aversion. So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts, until the Day they face Him-because they broke their promise to God, and because they used to lie. Do they not know that God knows their secrets and their conspiracies? And that God is the Knower of the unseen?" (9:75-78).

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A Facebook Comment

Published in December 23, 2016

Question: … A Facebook comment has reached me about a well-known Arab atheist thinker who says that Islam in any Quranic verse or hadith never mention or refer to women except as genitalia, while never mentioning or addressing their minds at all … How can this be refuted as far as Quranism is concerned?     

Answer:

    This is utter balderdash and nonsense; first of all, Sunnite, Sufi, and Shiite hadiths and narratives are not part of Islam and they contradict the Quran. We have written within many articles that most of the Quranic commands in the Quranic tongue or diction are addressed to both genders, and the words ''spouse'', ''(dis)believers", "people", etc. refer to both genders. The verses mentioning genitals and women together are just two verses about Mary, mother of Jesus, in the context referring to how she conceived her son without being married via Gabriel the arch-angel and in another context as God praises her chastity. As for women in Islam (i.e., Quranism), we refer you to some of the writings on that topic (in English) on the following links:  

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=79

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14340

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=15515

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14507

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14595

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14262

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=13412

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=7118