Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question We steer clear of some products and firms, whereas our close relatives do not. When celebrating holidays, we share what we have, and it would be impolite to refuse our elders. I am also concerned that our children are taught one thing at home but are shown something else […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question In a game set in Japan, my character restores health at a Shinto shrine, and the game prompts me to press a button that makes her pray. It was required to advance. I have no belief in or reverence for the deity and was interacting mechanically. Is this shirk? […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I work on a dessert truck. The cheesecake is left out for the whole shift instead of being refrigerated, and I have been trying to move it to the freezer against my coworkers’ objections. Is my income now unlawful? And I could not take time to pray without probably […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I opened a door and saw what I think was two family members in an intimate situation—I am not certain what I saw, and I left at once. Something similar may have happened once before. Am I sinful? Am I sinful for picturing it again to write this question? […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question Where exactly does the ankle begin and end for the washing of the feet in wudu, and is it the same for men and women? Answer In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate In the Hanafi school, the ankle (kaʿb) in wudu is the protruding bone on […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question If someone swallows something impure, such as non-halal meat, must he bring it up for his prayer to be valid? And is it accurate that what is inside the stomach carries no ruling? Answer In the Name of Allah, the Merciful and Compassionate Your prayer is valid. In the […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question My father follows the Hanafi school and, for eight years, has folded my earnings into his own wealth and paid 2.5 percent of the combined total every Ramadan. I have now studied zakat properly and have the bank records to work out my own zakat threshold (nisab) and zakat […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I am thirteen, and I want to know whether I may play a game rated for older players, such as a 16+ game, when the game itself contains nothing unlawful. Answer In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Especially Merciful. An age rating is not a ruling of […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I wear hijab, live in Hungary with my parents and my daughter, and have applied for over a hundred jobs without being hired, and I believe my hijab may be the reason. My husband is in Romania, his business is failing, he cannot provide us with housing, and he […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question A class at my masjid on the basics of purity and prayer has left me with far more doubts than I had before, and although I am trying to use the Hanafi rule that certainty is not lifted by doubt, I have ended up back where I was before […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question Two months ago, I prayed istikhara about a woman who intended to marry me, and I wanted the same. I had a good dream, a good feeling, and a settled mind, which I understood to be the signs to look for; she said her istikhara gave her the same, […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I began the Fajr sunna at 4:34 and later found the time for Fajr was 4:36, so I know that the sunna was not valid. I prayed the obligatory Fajr in its time, and now sunrise and the Dhuhr time have both passed. Do I have to make up […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I am traveling 2,800 kilometers over seventeen days, spending eight days in one town and then moving 47 kilometers to a second town for nine days, so neither stay reaches fifteen days. May I pray the traveler’s prayer throughout? Answer You pray the traveler’s prayer for all seventeen days. […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I am sixteen, and although I still believe, I have started to wish Islam were not true; everything feels so strict that I feel I am suffocating, and I want to know how to find peace and happiness in my religion again. Answer In the Name of Allah, the […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question Before I became Muslim, when I was thirteen or fourteen, I did something inappropriate involving a much younger sibling out of curiosity, and it never happened again. I took the shahada at fifteen and have repented sincerely ever since, and I want to know whether my repentance is accepted […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question My fiancée was forced by her family to wear the hijab as a child, about twelve years ago, against her own will. She has wanted to remove it ever since, but has never been allowed to. She only recently told me this. It has been affecting her mental health, […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I am passing through a very uncertain phase regarding my academic and career path. I am terrified that my current choices might lead me toward paths I always wanted to avoid or block my biggest dreams. I overthink every step to the point where I hesitate even to ask […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question Is it permissible for me to eat more than I need to stand upright while the Palestinians are starving? By that I mean more than one meal a day, really, the minimum of food I need to consume. Answer In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question Thank you for your answers—they’ve helped me enormously, and I’ve been feeling better since. While searching for answers a few days ago, I came across responses on your website and a YouTube video where you said that some people who fear they have fallen into kufr have, in fact, […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I have been staying at home because so much around me is not in line with Islam, and I want to know whether I may go out and take a walk when women are uncovered almost everywhere I look, and whether I may play football with non-Muslims in a […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question My neighborhood’s wastewater drainage was routed into the creek more than ten years ago, and the rerouting we were promised has not happened. I can use the backyard for wudu, but I have to use this system for the lavatory, for ghusl, and for washing greasy dishes. How do […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I want to become the most physically dominant and best combatant of all time in raw strength and fighting ability, and although I exclude the Prophets, “all time” would include the Companions. I mean it without any contempt, in a way I hope they would be proud of, so […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question I understand Quran 29:69, which says those who strive are guided, but I struggle with Quran 16:93, which says Allah guides whom He wills and misguides whom He wills. If Allah guides whom He wills, how does this work with human choice? If someone seeks guidance, is it because […]

Answered by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani Question We married only three months ago, and for all three months, I have heard from him that I am old, ugly, and do not meet his expectations. I am three and a half years older than him, and it is a cross-cultural marriage, so I do not look like […]