Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question If one lives in an area that is predominantly kufr in aqida, and there’s a masjid with an imam whose creed is unknown, is prayer behind him valid? Answer In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. May Allah reward you for your care over your prayer. […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question What is the ruling on a government setting a minimum wage? Some claim it is unlawful by analogy with the prohibition on fixing prices. Is that a valid opinion, and is it drawn from Islamic scholarship or from free-market thinkers such as Mises and Friedman? Is an employer obliged […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Before I left Islam, I swore I would never return and even said I would oppose Allah. Now I regret what I did, but I worry that my oaths might stop me from becoming Muslim again. Can I come back to Islam? How can I know if Allah has […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question A few friends and I co-founded an online tuition company. The service itself is lawful, but our marketing increasingly uses unveiled women, film actors’ images, trending film dialogue, and background music. I have raised my concerns several times; one founder said he would look into it, and the next […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Is it disbelief (kufr) to declare Ibn Rushd a disbeliever for holding that the universe is eternal? If the universe always existed alongside Allah, even while depending on Him, is that a form of associating partners with Him from pre-eternity? Is cursing fate disbelief, since destiny (qadar) is Allah’s […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I am a twenty-year-old Muslim woman. Several years ago I became involved with a Muslim man, and it turned into a relationship without commitment. I realized he was not right for me and wanted to end it. Now he is blackmailing me, and I am miserable. What should I […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I believe I mispronounced the ghayn only sometimes, and I do not think I said it as a kaf. It came out as “magdoobi,” or as something between a kaf and a ghayn. May I disregard my doubts and continue praying with the correct pronunciation? Answer In the Name […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question For about fifteen years, I sometimes did not pray, sometimes prayed without wudu or ghusl, and sometimes prayed to be seen. I have recently repented and now keep my five daily prayers. Must I make up fifteen years of prayers? I do not know how many were valid. Can […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Can shirk be forgiven if it happens more than once? I started asking AI about the possible wisdom behind events and feared future outcomes, even though I know only Allah holds that wisdom. I sincerely repented and tried to limit my use of AI, but over time, I fell […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Should one say “aʿudhu billahi min al-shaytan al-rajim” before reciting Surat al-Fatiha in the prayer, in the Shafiʿi school? Answer In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Yes. In the Shafiʿi school, it is sunna to seek refuge before the Fatiha in every rakʿa of […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question In my hometown, there are places for women to pray in the mosque, but since moving for work, I have struggled to find a place to pray when traveling. So I pray using head gestures, on a bus, for example, rather than moving my limbs, to avoid attention, and […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I build software that detects people and objects in video. To train and test it, I download openly licensed photographs, none pornographic, and an automated filter removes anything indecent. Some remaining photos show women without hijab or men in shorts. No human looks at them; a program processes them, […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I came across a fatwa on responding “okay” to a divorce request. Based on its reasoning, would a non-verbal affirmative sound, specifically “mhmm”, which in the UK commonly means “yes” or “I understand”, count as valid, explicit speech capable of constituting a response to a divorce request? Or would […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I have been offered a Group CHRO position at a company that provides HR services to several independent businesses. One of these businesses operates a Forex/CFD brokerage. I would not be involved in trading, selling, or marketing CFDs, but I would handle payroll, contracts, policies, employee relations, and recruitment […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question A brother does not curse or insult, but when things go wrong, he complains out of distress. He says things like “What is wrong with this thing?” or “What is wrong with these phones?” He also says, “To Allah we belong, and to Him we return” (inna lillahi wa […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question In certain countries, the days are very short. Is it permissible to delay a prayer, other than praying it at the very beginning of its time, as long as it is still prayed within its time? For example, Isha enters at 6 pm, but due to work or training, […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I made oaths saying, “By Allah, if I marry while this house exists, I will become a kafir” and “I make a vow for Allah that in this matter I am Hanafi.” Can oaths and vows bind me to the Hanafi position and prevent me from following the Shafi’i […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question For a year, a man has told me he wants to marry me, but he has set and canceled the nikah more than six times without any explanation. Now he says he will marry me tomorrow if I can show him proof from the Quran or Sunna that a […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I eased a lonely youth by imagining friendship with fictional characters, among them two cartoon robots who love each other, and I hope to meet them in Paradise. For eleven months, I have had intrusive thoughts telling me that imagining them is sinful and that Allah will never make […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Why are parents and siblings held more directly responsible for a child’s daily well-being than relatives, friends, coworkers, or teachers? Does Islam limit how much responsibility others may take on, or may they become as involved as they are willing and able to be? Answer In the name of […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question My university requires students to take out a government student loan to be eligible for a bursary. The loans are interest-free, carry no early-closure penalty, and are waived on death. I do not intend to use the money and will close the loan once the bursary application is processed. […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question I bled on days one to three, was dry on day three, saw blood on days four and five, then took my ghusl, believing my period had ended, and prayed for the following week. I later learned about the white discharge as a sign of purity, and now I […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Most gyms in my city are mixed. Some people say men should not go because of this. Others argue that if there is only one or two women, lowering your gaze is enough, and they point out that mixed universities have even more mixing but are still accepted. How […]

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick Question Is it allowed for a Muslim ruler to conquer a non-Muslim land? Someone heard that a true caliph might do this, and history shows that many lands were taken, including Constantinople, Sicily, Spain, southern France, Egypt, and Persia. Why were these places conquered? Were they considered threats? Do some […]