Fatwas Part Fifty-Three

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

Friday Noon Prayers

Published in August 29, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I am a new Quranist, and my question is as follows: when I pray the Friday noon prayers alone in my room, would it be four or two Raqas? I shall never pray inside Sunnite mosques again, as you have taught me in your fatwas … Thank you …    

Answer:

   Of course, you should perform the noon prayers on Fridays as four Raqas since you pray alone at home; but if you have a group of Quranists with you at home, there should be an Azan (call to prayers) and a Quranist sermon, and then all of you pray together two Raqas only behind an imam from among this group of Quranists. Thank you for your good question.

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Three-Month Waiting Period for Divorced Women

Published in August 29, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I shall not understand why the three-month waiting period for divorced women is NOT mentioned in the Quranic Chapter 60 regarding female immigrants leaving their husbands behind as they must be separated from their spouses by divorce? God has urged male believers in Yathreb at the time to marry these immigrating women in 60:10, as you know … Thank you …  

Answer:

 This is not mentioned because it has been known from other verses about divorce, and the city-state of Yathreb applied Islam; it is a sure thing that Muhammad made these divorced wives wait for three months till they can remarry in Yathreb. The same waiting period applies to widows as well, to make sure that there is no pregnancy. If the woman is pregnant, the baby must be ascribed to the late husband or the ex-husband of course, and this is the reason for ordaining this three-month period in the Quran.  

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Remembrance of God Is Possible in All Times

Published in August 30, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Am I allowed in Islam to remember God's Name all the time, even during having sex with my wife and while my being inside the bathroom (urinating, defecating, showering, etc.)? What do you think? … Thank you …

Answer:

 Of course you can remember God's Name and glorify and thank Him anytime anywhere; please remember that farting, urinating, and defecating (acts that one might be ashamed of for no reason) are great bounties granted to humankind; they are evidence that all the vital organs are working efficiently and that one enjoys the best of health. Diseased people who suffer constipation or urinary retention are the ones who realize the importance of such great bounties with which others are disgusted. Even having sex indicates that you enjoy an excellent health and have strong heart inside your chest; these are part of the great bounties bestowed on people by our Lord God; we must thank our Lord for these bounties when they do occur or are being performed. We have said previously in our fatwas that all acts of worship – except the five daily prayers – can be performed without ablution or complete ablution, and this applies to reading the Quran, remembering and glorifying God, fasting, pilgrimage, and zakat. Thus, you can remember God's name and glorify Him all the time and everywhere, even while lying in bed on your back or on your side, and even inside bathrooms and bedrooms, and during having sex, and when you wonder at the greatness of God's creatures and creations around you in this world and inside your body. Thank you for your good question. True believers never cease to remember God's name and to glorify Him as much as they can even when alone and in private.     

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A Message from Mr. Zachariah Al-Maghraby

Published in August 30, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'd like to add this comment about Episode No. 91 of your great show "Quranic Moments" (subtitle in English on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tEWUklYBoM)… I feel that behind the invention and fabrication of every single hadith, there is a strange unwritten story that is the origin of it; maybe the silly hadith about Jinn and devils roaming streets between sunset and night was invented by an anonymous sheikh who was corrupt and used to bring a sex worker at home at sunset and did not desire children who play in the streets to see and scandalize him! Thus, he invented this hadiths to make people gather all their children from streets at sunsets every day!  … Thank you …    

Answer:

  Thank you for your funny comment. We do believe that Sunnite myths about Jinn, devils, sprites, goblins, etc. are made to be a part of the Sunnite religion and every other man-made, earthly religions, because Satan's way of deceiving humanity in all locations and eras is the same. Besides, clergymen of every era, location, and denomination desire always to control people by terrorizing them so that people resort to them and fill their pockets with money and their stomachs with food items. All clergymen are charlatans and they are the source of such religious myths and unreasonable tales to deceive people and dominate over them. Even charlatans and quack-doctors in rural areas and slums are called ''sheikhs'' by the masses in the Arab world, and these charlatans claim they combine knowledge of religion, magic, sorcery, and medicine, as well as control of Jinn and devils! These charlatan are typically chased by the police; yet, the State that imposes Wahabism disregards and overlooks the real charlatans who are clergymen, as they serve tyrannical rulers in media, cultural & religious life, mosques, etc. to control and dominate over all followers. Clergymen even rule as tyrants when they have the chance, as the case with Iran.   

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About Barsakh Levels

Published in August 31, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'm still a new Quranist, and when I've talked to some friends of mine who are skeptics and reject religion, trying to preach Quranism to them, they posed to me questions about Barsakh that I could not answer and they have ridiculed this verse: "Except one who steals a hearing, and is followed by a visible projectile." (15:18), about devils trying to eavesdrop but are thrown by comets and other projectiles in outer space; these friends mocked me because comets and meteors are explained in science in a different way … What do you think? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 You have misunderstood 15:18, as this verse does NOT refer to comets and meteors at all; rather, it refers to Barsakh levels that are overlapping with heavens and the Earth and where metaphysical creatures like angels, devils, and Jinn exist; they can see human beings and people cannot see them at all. As per the Quran, there are seven layers of Earth: a physical one in which we live as Planet Earth and six metaphysical levels of Barsakh. Of course, in one level of Barsakh, there are souls of those dead and those who are yet to be born, and within another level, there is a Barsakh Paradise for those who are killed within the endeavors or jihad for God's sake or by died as a result of religious persecution (by being put to death or tortured to death, for instance). Within one Barsakh level, disbelievers among the people of Noah and Moses' Pharaoh and his Pharaonic retinue and family are being tormented, as per the Quran. Of course, likewise, there are seven layers of the heavens, and the first physical one is being discovered in outer space, and the six ones are within Barsakh levels that cannot be reached by any human beings at all. Within these Barsakh heavens, devils try to penetrate and go up, higher than their limits could allow them, and they are stopped by deadly projectiles whose nature and sight cannot be imagined by us; these are NOT comets or meteors, as some people assume. Please read more about Barsakh within our fatwas, articles, and books. Keep busy with reading the archive of our website instead of preaching to those who are not interested in their real, everlasting future in the Afterlife. God bless and guide you.

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Yes, But.....!

Published in August 31, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I feel so depressed because despite your great writings and videos, millions of Arab people are still polytheists  who believe in Sunnite, Sufi, and Shiite myths that contradict the Quran which is disregarded and abandoned by them! Why are they so gullible & brainless and are deceived easily by clergymen?! What Quranists are supposed to do more to raise awareness of the masses and to undeceive them?! …Thank you …   

Answer:

 Do not be depressed; please calm down and remember always the Quranic fact that the vast majority of human beings in all eras are misguided and misguiding (polytheists + atheists), and if you warn them or preach to them, it is impossible that this vast majority would believe and be among the monotheists. Quranic facts are unchangeable and unalterable. Yet, Quranists are doing their best within peaceful, intellectual jihad within cyberspace to preach True Islam; i.e., Quranism. We ourselves hope to be among witnesses of God on the Last Day regarding our era in which we have lived; we also sincerely hope to die as a martyr when our Wahabi foes might assassinate us one day (as they threaten us via hate emails to do so), and this will make us die for God's sake and live in the Barsakh Paradise in sheer happiness and bliss till the Last Day.     

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About Quranic Moments, from Mr. Abdullah

Published in September 2, 2017

Question:  … Dear Sir, … I do not like it that some comments written under your videos are not deleted by you though they contain verbal abuse against your person and some words ridiculing the topics of the videos; besides, when some Quranists reply to them calmly and answer their queries, the anonymous writers of abusive comments mock and verbally abuse them! … Thank you …         

Answer:

  Thank you for your comment, Mr. Abdullah; we will appreciate it if you reply calmly to some comments that contain FAQs (showing links to our books/fatwas/articles that contain answers) and ignore the comments of verbal abuse; we ourselves have no spare time to delete (or even read) any comments, but we notice that many viewers pose repeated questions as they are too lazy to read our archive. 

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Food Items of Disbelievers!

Published in September 2, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Are we to eat meat of animals slaughtered by non-Muslims without mentioning God's name before slaughtering these animals? … Or are these animals are dead meat as they are not slaughtered in the Islamic way?! … Thank you …   

Answer:

  God says in the Quran: "Prohibited for you are carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and animals dedicated to other than God; also the flesh of animals strangled, killed violently, killed by a fall, gored to death, mangled by wild animals-except what you rescue, and animals sacrificed on altars..." (5:3); "...And the food of those given the Book is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them..." (5:5). This means that you cannot add to this list of prohibited meat by not eating meat cooked by non-Muslims that comes from animals slaughtered by non-Muslims. The word ''altars'' in 5:3 means you cannot eat meat from animals slaughtered at Sufi, Sunnite, or Shiite mausoleums (e.g., during feasts of saints). Slaughtered animals' meat prepared by non-Muslims is allowed and permissible; do not be like extremists and Wahabi Salafists who express their hatred toward non-Wahabis by prohibiting their food. Of course, you must NOT consume wine or flesh of pigs prepared by anyone in whatever ways; otherwise, you can eat any dishes prepared by non-Muslims. Christians have allowed prohibited food items that some Israelites/Jews still prohibit as part of the Torah teachings. We assert here that the Muhammadans, as per the Quranic teachings, are the worst type of polytheists and disbelievers as they fight one another and they deify mortals and things/items; it is silly that they prohibit food items prepared by the People of the Book. By the way, we have written this answer so many times; please read our fatwas before posing repeated questions.

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The Meaning of "the Poor"

Published in September 3, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Are the poor ones those who need food only, or do they include those in need of medical treatment, adults/children who live homeless in streets, etc. … Thank you …   

Answer:

 Of course, the poor ones are the needy ones: the hungry, the homeless, the sick, etc., and there are also orphans who need kindness and compassion even if they are wealthy. If the needy and the poor ones do not receive their rights (medical treatment, housing, food, etc.), the whole society suffers a lot and the rest of the nation in a given country (along with rulers) will pay dearly for this sin of not giving the need ones their rights.             

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Extra Prayers

Published in September 3, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … The Quran talks about extra prayers and acts of worship by night without specifying them: how many Raqas, etc. Would it be allowed if I pray, for instance, 50 Raqas every night?!  … Thank you …      

Answer:

  Extra acts of worship by night performed by the pious ones include prayers, reading the Quran, glorifying God's Name, supplicating to God, prostrations, and reflecting on God's creations. Of course, pious believers can do this anytime of the day, not just by night, and they can choose the amount of time dedicated to these acts of worship; what to do exactly is up to you, regarding the number of Raqas, what Quranic Chapters to read, how to supplicate, thank, glorify, and implore Almighty God, etc. Thank you for your good question.

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Attending Weddings

Published in September 4, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … You have told me that social habits like weeding ceremonies and funerals are not part of religion and one can attend them or miss them, but could you explain this issue further to me? If I would attend any gatherings, what are the prohibited things to avoid? … Thank you …        

Answer:

 Of course, it is permissible to attend and participate in social habits and customs, especially those linked to marriages and funerals; yet, you are to avoid prohibited items like drinking wine and lewd dancing as well as attending gatherings of those who sing the Quran, as this is very insulting to God's Word. Of course, if one wants to, one can easily purge any social habits/gatherings from any prohibited items.  

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Legal Marriage

Published in September 4, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir,  … I'd like to know your Quranist view concerning a certain issue; is it OK for within the mixed marriages  of Muslim persons and non-Muslims to marry in a church for instance? Civil marriages are the ones acknowledged by several European countries, I know, but is it OK as per Quranism to marry within a church as a formal ceremony to please the non-Muslim in-laws in additional to the civil marriage?   … Thank you …

Answer:

 Of course, it is OK. Legal marriages in Islam have certain conditions: mutual consent between a peaceful woman and a peaceful man, the marriage is made public by witnesses (at least two persons) who sign the marriage contract, and the man must pay a dowry to the pride. It is OK to sign this contract in a club, a hall, a house, a mosque, or a church, whether the contract is registered formally by the State or not.

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Perjury

Published in September 5, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it OK in your opinion to resort to perjury or false testimony in courts in order to save an innocent person? … What do you think? … Thank you …    

Answer:

 Yes; when it serves to achieve the higher, greater purpose of justice, which is the number-one value in Quranism. The three spheres of Quranic legislation in Islam are (1) legislative commands & prohibitions, (2) legislative rules, and (3) legislative purposes, and both (1) & (2) are controlled by (3), and (1) are controlled fist by (2). The legislative purposes include justice and piety, as applying (1) in isolation or away from (2) and (3) is certainly wasting God's Quranic sharia, and this loss or waste is the reason behind the corrupt life of injustices, tyranny, and oppression suffered by the Muhammadans. About the issue about which you ask, it is OK to sacrifice the legislative command in order to serve and fulfill the legislative purpose of justice.    

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About the Quranic Chapter 93

Published in September 5, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Is theQuranic Chapter 93 addressing the Prophet Muhammad only or all Muslims? … What is meant by the Bounty of the Lord mentioned in 93:11? … Thank you …  

Answer:

 This Quranic Chapter 93 is among the earliest ones revealed in the Quran within the early days of the ministry/prophethood of Muhammad, and it addresses only Muhammad. God has said to Muhammad: "But proclaim the Bounty of your Lord." (93:11); this means that God has commanded him to spread the Quranic message to people around him, as the Quran is the Bounty of the Lord given to people through Muhammad. Thus, the only message/discourse in Islam is the Quran, and it is enough for true believers without any other narratives/hadiths at all, as Muhammad proselytized Islam only by reciting the Quran to people.

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Sunset and Fasting

Published in September 6, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … God says in the Quran about fasting during Ramadan: "...Then complete the fast until nightfall..." (2:187) … Does this means that we are to break the fasting by the night prayers and NOT at the sunset prayers?! … Thank you …      

Answer:

  You are extremely mistaken; this verse shows clearly that breaking the fast is when the sun disk disappears; i.e., at sunset when the Azan/call for sunset prayers is heard, as this is the start of the night. Please read our archive of writings on our website; you would have found an answer to your question easily within our book on fasting and our previous fatwas, before posing FAQs we have answered many times. Please help us to save our time and effort by reading our previous writings carefully first before sending repeated queries.

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About "Quranic Moments"

Published in September 6, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'd like you, Dr. Mansour, to tackle certain Quranic verses in the coming episodes of your great YouTube show "Quranic Moments", especially 7:175-187 and 7:199  … Thank you  … 

Answer:

 We think we have already done this in the episodes we have videoed, but these episodes are not uploaded yet; we upload only one episode daily. We are currently preparing and shooting many videos so that we have a supply of videos to be ready for this daily upload; we have 150 episodes and one-third of them is yet to be uploaded. We are going to tackle many Quranic verses of certain themes. May God come to our aid and help. 

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Do Quranists Contradict the Quran?!

Published in April 13, 2014

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I feel thankful for the intellectual benefits I've derived from the writings of all Quranists on your great website and your progressive stances, but I tend to think that some views expressed within your articles, Dr. Mansour, contradict the Quran! …

Answer:

  Of course, no Quranist writer is infallible; we personally work and write through research and we accept constructive criticism and admit it when we make mistakes when we are proven wrong with clear evidence. You did not tell us about the 'contradictions' you have noticed; please tell us more details and explain yourself. We never contradict the Quran at all in our writings. Maybe you have misunderstood us because of the Sunnite notions lurking inside your brain. Please re-read our archive more carefully and ponder on our writings on a deeper level, then send us all your views so that we learn from you. Thank you in advance.   

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Guardian in Marriages

Published in October 23, 2014

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I'm a Kurdish Muslim and I admire your great website very much … My question is as follows: if we are to discard Sunnite hadiths, how marriages are to be performed? The Quran does NOT tell us how to draw marriage contracts… Why Sunnites assume that brides must have an elderly male "guardian" (e.g., a father, elder brother, an old relative) to be signing the marriage contract as well?!   … Thank you …    

Answer:

 Marriage is an old, formal, and known human practice before the descent of the Quran in the 7^th century A.D. History tells us that before Muhammad was made a prophet of God, he got married to a rich lady named Khadija within a legal marriage, and Muhammad ancestors married within legal marriages and NEVER begot children outside wedlock. Quranic sharia laws correct what went wrong and were distorted within ancient rituals like marriage, divorce, fasting, prayers, etc. known in the Abrahamic religion but distorted by certain generations. There is nothing called male "guardians" for women who are getting married; this is a patriarchal, misogynist notion of the Sunnite religion . Of course, some new legislations are introduced by the Quran regarding marriage, like the types of women a man cannot marry and the idea of the bridegroom paying a dowry to the bride as well as the idea of men getting married to their freed female slaves who are paid a dowry as per the verse 4:25.       

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Humps of Camels!

Published in November 9, 2013

Question: … Dear Sir, …Of course, as a Quranist like you, I do not believe in hadiths at all; but I do sometimes wonder about the phrasing of hadiths that foretell things and predict events; e.g., women making their hairdos up like humps of camels… As a historian, could you provide any explanation to this weird phrasing of hadiths by anonymous men?!  … Thank you …   

Answer:

  Such phrasing of hadiths reflects the mentality of the Abbasid Era; many hadiths were invented and fabricated by fiqh scholars as a reaction to things occurring at the time; they would phrase their own views in the form of hadiths ascribed falsely to Muhammad to give fake credibility to their wrong views and to prevent others from criticizing or undermining these views. For instance, women during the Abbasid Era used to wear wigs and also to make their natural hair raised above in a hairdo similar to humps of camels, and patriarchal fiqh scholars of the extremist Ibn Hanbal doctrine hated this flashy and showy hairdos of women in the streets of cities and concocted such hadiths about these women entering into Hell if they do not stop that! Please watch our videos of our YouTube show titled "Exposing Salafism", especially the episodes about women's dress codes and ornaments. Within many of our articles and books, we have quoted and discussed Quranic verses that assert that Muhammad never knew anything about the future or aspects of the metaphysical realm of the unseen and unknown. Thus, all hadiths about predictions are false, and they have been fabricated in the Abbasid Era, centuries after the death of Muhammad.      

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The Shiite Religion in Egypt

Published in April 11, 2012

Question: … Dear Sir, … Are the fears of proselytizing the Shiite religion in Egypt groundless or true? Could the Shiite religion dominate Egypt one day as some Wahabis and Salafists fear? What do you think? … … Thank you …  

Answer:

  In a word, this is impossible. Here are the reasons: Egyptian masses love too much the household members of the Prophet and his daughter, Fatima, along with her husband (the Shiite deity named Ali) and two male children (Hussein and Hassan), and other descendants of this family of Ali, and this leads Egyptian masses to deify and sanctify mausoleums dedicated to Hussein and his sister Zeinab (though they never came to Egypt at all, let alone to be buried in it!). Sufis in Egypt encourage such Shiite sentiments, no doubt, as Sufism is the natural son of the Shiite religion and any Sufis in Egypt claim falsely that they are descendants of the progeny of Ali and Fatima. Yet, despite all this, the number of Shiites cannot increase in Egypt to make it a country of a majority of Shiites. The reason: to be a Shiite requires not only to deify Ali and his progeny, but also something else Egyptians would not do: to hate and curse the so-called companions and Muhammad's contemporaries (Omar, Abou Bakr, Othman, Talha, Al-Zubayr, etc.) as well as his wife Aisha, and to disown such historical figures deified by Sunnites. Sunnite masses in Egypt would be horrified to hear and read such deified mortals being cursed and verbally abused by Shiites. Pious Quranists in Egypt (and anywhere else) are true monotheists who never deify any (dead or alive) mortals and their stance toward the so-called companions is summarized in this Quranic verse: "That was a community that has passed; for them is what they have earned, and for you is what you have earned; and you will not be questioned about what they used to do." (2:134 & 2:141). Besides, the Persians had their nationalistic and chauvinistic stances to hate Abou Bakr and Omar and the rest of caliphs/companions, as those Arabs conquered the Persian Empire; during the reign of the caliph Othman, the Persian emperor Yazdegerd III was assassinated while he was fleeing toward the East to run away from Arab troops. Thus, Persians have the right to hate Arabs of the Arab conquests who invaded their country, and they vented their fury within quasi-religious and political propaganda that led to the emergence and fabrication of the Shiite religion that deifies Ali and his two sons. It is noteworthy that within Persian Shiite myths, Hussein son of Ali married one daughter of Yazdegerd III who bore some children to Hussein. This way, the Persians involved their 'glory' into the 'glory' of the deified progeny of Ali. Hussein and his brother Hassan have been deified by Shiites and were portrayed with divine God-like qualities in the Shiite folklore and myths. This is against the Quran; real Islam has no deification or sanctification to any mortals (prophets and non-prophets) as both deification and sanctification are exclusively due to our Lord Allah. Thus, the Shiite religion is the natural product of Persian mythology of gods and goddesses. Of course, Pharaonic Egypt has millennia-old traditions of deifying mortals, but Coptic Christian Orthodox Egyptians welcomed the Arab conquest to get rid of their persecutors (the Byzantines) and they helped Arab conquerors against these persecutors. Egyptians adopted the Arab tongue and culture and the Sunnite religion soon enough within the Egyptian crucible of all cultures of the past, whereas Persia has retained its language and sense of nationalism while being a Shiite region. These facts seem strange because Egypt is separated from Arabia by the Red Sea and its coastal mountains, whereas Persia is not separated by any natural or geographical barriers from the Arabic-speaking Iraq. Thus, within this background, we may understand why the Fatimid Shiites in Egypt failed miserably to convert Egyptians into the Shiite religion, though most Egyptians adopted Shiite notions during the Fatimid Era, and when the Fatimid caliphate ended, Egyptians converted to the Sunnite religion of their next rulers while retaining few Shiite notions and habits in feasts/festivals without cursing or verbally abusing 'companions' or declaring them as infidels.