Fatwas Part One-Hundred-and-Three

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

About Pilgrimage, Again!

Published in November 26, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'm convinced of your view that pilgrimage (or Hajj) can be performed anytime within the four sacred months and it isn't confined to the first ten days of the lunar Hijri month of Zu Al-Hijja; yet, I'd like you to inform me of pilgrimage rituals that should be performed and the polytheistic/Sunnite ones that I must avoid; my other questions about performing Hajj on my own are as follows:..........................  … Thank you …    

Answer:

  You will find answers to all these questions within our book, in English, titled "Pilgrimage between Islam and the Muhammadans", found on this link:   http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=90

 More details about pilgrimage within the four sacred months of the lunar Hijri calendar are found in these English articles of ours:     

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=653

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=15467

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=13928

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Touching Women

Published in November 26, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is merely touching my wife (and shaking hands with women in general) require ablution or complete ablution (i.e., bathing or showering) so that I can perform prayers?  … Thank you …  

Answer:

 You misunderstand the Quranic verse 4:43 about performing ablution and complete ablution; the men 'touching' women in this verse means husbands having sex with their wives. If you did not have sex with your wife, you do not have to repeat ablution before prayers. Muslim husbands are required to bathe/shower after sexual intercourse or coitus and/or ejaculation, even if this ejaculation occurs without having sex, before they can perform prayers.

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The Culture of Belly-Dancers!

Published in November 26, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … I am a Quranist man like you. I've read in certain books and heard in documentary movies that many religious reformers and reformist thinkers (especially Sunna-hadiths deniers) were affiliated with the European colonizers; e.g., Mohammed Abdou had good relations with the British occupiers of Egypt and Jamal Eddine Al-Afghani joined the suspicious freemasons! This means they are accused of being traitors of their countries; they have also betrayed Islam, I think! ........ Quranists of India in the 20^th century held good relations with the British occupiers as well! … You maintain that Abou Hanifa was the first Quranist thinker; yet, he left no books; how would we know, then, that he was a Quranist? How would we know he never supported the unjust ones of his era? I heard about a group of Quranists in Nigeria who differ from your own school of thought........... What do you think? … Thank you …

Answer:

 Haters of Quranists accuse them of many things because they cannot refute the solid, sound arguments of Quranists; Sunnite scholars/sheikhs are ignoramuses; such accusations and defamations (and character assassination) pertain to the culture of belly-dancers, harlots, and pimps! The Azharite sheikhs, for instance, dance in processions of the unjust tyrannical rulers and hide their ignorance (as they know nothing about the Quran) by slandering Sunna-hadiths deniers who expose the ignorance of Azharite clergymen. We never believe in conspiracy theories; we do not have proofs that freemasonry is evil; it is assumed to be so by Arabs after the emergence of the modern state of Israel in 1948. Before that date, many thinkers and famous people worldwide sought to join the freemasons. The great thinker Abou Hanifa never hid his despise for hadiths; he never believed in hadiths; after his death, Hanbali Sunnite authors slandered, insulted, and verbally abused him and accused him of many things to undermine him because they hated him and hated his reformist ideas. We do not know anything about the existence of any Quranists in Nigeria. By the way, within our being persecuted in Egypt, we have been attacked within smear campaigns in several Egyptian newspapers; we lived in abject poverty; yet, some Azharites and journalists accused our person of receiving millions of US$ to 'destroy' Islam! We never had even a single bank account when we were living in Cairo, Egypt; when our KSA-backed Azharite haters knew this, they wrote shamelessly within their articles that the 'enemies' of Islam in the West have not yet sent us any of the money they promised us! This is indeed the culture of belly-dancers!      

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About the Verse 67:19

Published in November 27, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … What does this verse mean in relation to birds: "Have they not seen the birds above them, spreading their wings, and folding them? None holds them except the Dominant Lord. He is Perceiver of everything." (67:19) … Thank you …    

Answer:

 This verse is about the Lord God's control of all His creatures their ways of life, movements, formations, and instincts; all creatures glorify the Lord God; the verse 67:19 is linked to this one: "Do you not realize that God is glorified by whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and even by the birds in formation? Each knows its prayer and its manner of praise. God knows well what they do." (24:41).

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About Noah's Son

Published in November 27, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … I tend to think that Noah's disbelieving wife betrayed her husband by cheating on him with another man and that her disbelieving son was not Noah's son; I infer this from these Quranic verses: "God illustrates an example of those who disbelieve: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants, but they betrayed them. They availed them nothing against God, and it was said, "Enter the Hell-Fire with those who are entering."" (66:10); "He said, "O Noah, he is not of your family. It is an unrighteous deed. So do not ask Me about something you know nothing about. I admonish you, lest you be one of the ignorant."" (11:46). What do you think? … Thank you …      

Answer:

  In the verse 11:46, the Lord God has rebuked Noah for asking Him to pardon his disbelieving, disobedient drowned son; God does NOT say here that this son was not Noah's but that he was no family because he was a disbeliever who sinned, as per the record of his deeds written by angels and closed by them when he drowned. Thus, your view (i.e., the assumed sexual infidelity of Noah's wife) is utterly wrong and groundless; we have refuted this view in an article of ours, in English, titled "Quranic Terminology: The Concept of Betrayal", found on this link:               http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=17265

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Remembering and Glorifying God's Holy Name

Published in November 22, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … What is the difference (in various Quranic contexts) betweenremembering God's Holy Name and glorifying/praising it? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 There is no difference at all; these expressions are synonymous and they refer to the same act of worship ignored by the Muhammadans who focus their attention on deifying, glorifying, and sanctifying Muhammad and not the Lord God. We refer you to our YouTube subtitled-into-English videos about this topic and to this article of ours in English:              http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=14140    

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About the Verse 55:41

Published in November 28, 2018

Question:  … Dear Sir, … The Lord Go says the following in the Quran: "The criminals will be recognized by their marks; they will be taken by the forelocks and the feet." (55:41); my question is as follows: how will criminals be recognized exactly?  … Thank you …        

Answer:

 As per the Quran, on the Last Day, those sinners/disbelievers condemned to Hell will have hideous, black faces; in contrast, the pious believers who will enter into Paradise will have white, bright faces: "On the Day when some faces will be whitened, and some faces will be blackened. As for those whose faces are blackened: "Did you disbelieve after your belief?" Then taste the punishment for having disbelieved. But as for those whose faces are whitened: they are in God's mercy, remaining in it forever." (3:106-107); "Faces on that Day will be radiant. Laughing and rejoicing. And Faces on that Day will be covered with misery. Overwhelmed by remorse. These are the disbelievers, the sinful ones." (80:38-42).

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Against Slavery

Published in November 28, 2018

Question:  … Dear Sir, … What are the Quranic proofs that slavery is prohibited in Islam? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 Islam is against all types of injustices including slavery/enslavement; the Quran urges men to liberate/free their slaves and to marry them. Besides, from this verse about self-defense war: "...Then, either release them by grace, or in exchange of other captured men, until war lays down its burdens..." (47:4), we infer that no one is to keep captives or POWs as they are to be set free. For more information about this topic, we refer you to our book, in English, titled "Slavery: A Fundamental Historical Overview", found on this link:              http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=87  

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About Ships

Published in November 28, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … What is the meaning of these two verses which seem related to one another: "And of His signs are the ships sailing the sea like flags." (42:32); " His are the ships, raised above the sea like landmarks" (55:24)? … Thank you …   

Answer:

  Both verses refer to the bounty and sign/miracle by the Lord God regarding seas/oceans whose surfaces can carry small and huge ships but if you drop a nail in any of these seas/oceans, it will never float. The Quranic term (jawary) used in both verses to refer (within metonymy) to ships literally means ships which move on water surfaces. The Quranic term (jawary) is derived from the Arabic verb "jara", which means: to run, to move fast.   

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A Question of Inheritance

Published in November 29, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … My maternal grandma died recently; her possessions and money will be inherited only by my mother and my maternal uncle (i.e., the brother of my mother); how the inheritance shares will be divided? By the way, grandma's house's contract is in the name of my late maternal grandfather (her husband) and not in the name of grandma herself ....... … Thank you …     

Answer:

  After the death of your maternal grandfather, the house was your grandmother's anyway; her house, possessions, and money are to be distributed as follows: 2/3 for your maternal uncle and 1/3 for your mother; the Lord God says the following in the Quran: "...The male receives the equivalent of the share of two females..." (4:11).  

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You Are Welcome as a Writer

Published in November 29, 2018

Question: …  Dear Sir, … My name is....... and I'm a UAE-based Egyptian writer; my website and email addresses are...........  … I'd like to share this sarcastic article of mine in which I ridicule the greedy people (especially rulers) whose folly, egoism, and avarice exceed those of any animals: ................................ …  Thank you …        

Answer:

 Your article is an excellent; you are welcome to join us as a writer of articles within our website.

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Divine Revelation, Again!

Published in November 29, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir,  … I'd like you to clarify this point because it is part of a research which I'm writing now … The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "It is not for any human that God should speak to him, except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or by sending a messenger to reveal by His permission whatever He wills. He is All-High, All-Wise." (42:51); "...And God spoke to Moses directly." (4:164). My question is as follows: some Quran-hating people assume that both verses contradict each other; how would you refute their assumption?  … Thank you …

Answer:

 The verse 42:51 indicates clearly two ways of divine revelation granted to prophets/messengers: (1) God talking directly to them (or to their souls/minds) without their seeing Him, and this is the case of Moses, and (2) God sending the arch-angel Gabriel to them, as was the case with Muhammad when he saw Gabriel twice, as per the Quranic Chapter 53.

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A Silly, Blasphemous Hadith!

Published in November 30, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … I disagree with you regarding a certain point; i.e., Sufi love towards God; one must love God with all one's might and senses; one must talk to Him, be united with Him.........................God undoubtedly sends signs and dreams/visions to people who love Him and He loves them......................... I love this hadith (which may be a true one, by the way):-----> God said to Prophet Muhammad that He says daily to human beings: (O My servants, if you obey Me, you will be like Me; you will be able to utter the command "Be!" and anything you want will be!).  …  What do you think? …  Thank you …    

Answer:

 The Sufi hadithyou have quoted in your message is a silly, blasphemous one; Sufi authors invented it to deify their 'saints' by ascribing to them miracles and to assume that as if God were at their service and at their command! This Sufi hadith, among many others similar to it, aim to propagate the blasphemous notion of mortals being united with God or that He would manifest himself inside their bodies; this is very insulting to the Lord God: "Yet they turn one of His servants into a part of Him. Man is clearly a disbeliever!" (43:15). Hence, if you believe in this blasphemous hadith, you insult the Lord God by assuming that He were a creature or a human being like you who should be loved in a physical manner like the sexual love between men and women. Brotherly love among mortals is based on mutual respect, benefits, and good deeds, eating together, seeing/visiting/helping one another, etc. Thus, one's love towards God differs from one's love to human beings. The pious believers' love towards God, as per this Quranic verse: "Say, "If you love God, then follow me, and God will love you, and will forgive you your sins." God is Forgiving and Merciful." (3:31), is to obey His Quranic commands and to deify/sanctify/glorify Him as the Only Lord and Creator without any deified human beings besides Him; we never see God and we will never see Him in the Hereafter; this love by believers towards their Lord God is based on desiring Paradise and fearing Hell. Polytheists choose their deities from among mortals and love them in the same way they love and revere the Lord God. This sin is committed by Sufis who deify entombed 'saints'/allies, by Shiites who deify Ali and his descendants or household members and the Shiite imams/authors, and by Sunnites who deify Al-Bokhary, and other authors/imams, and the sinful, immoral caliphs (i.e., the four pre-Umayyad caliphs). The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "Yet among the people are those who take other than God as equals to Him. They love them as the love of God. But those who believe have greater love for God. If only the unjust ones would realize, when they see the torment; that all power is God's, and that God is severe in torment." (2:165).

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Passing the Test

Published in November 30, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … Why did Abraham assumed that God has commanded him to sacrifice his first-born son? Why did he attempted to do so? I tend to think that passing this test should have been to refuse to commit something sinful (i.e., murdering the innocent son: Ishmael) and not blind obedience of a mere vision/dream …  What do you think? … Thank you …

Answer:

 You are indeed mistaken; Abraham's passing the test imposed on him by the Lord God was his obeying the Lord God within piety, devotion, and devoutness; this is NOT blind obedience; rather, this is the highest degree of faith/belief in the Lord God; hence, Abraham has deserved his special position/stature among the Lord God's prophets/messengers: "And when his Lord tested Abraham with certain words, and he fulfilled them. He said, "I am making you a leader of humanity."..." (2:124); "...Abraham, who fulfilled" (53:37).

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Second Coming of Jesus?!

Published in November 30, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir,  …  You never mention in your writings anything about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and you do not tell us if his body and soul rose/returned to God or only his soul like the rest of dead people … Thank you …     

Answer:

 We never believe in myths such as the so-called second coming; Jesus Christ died a natural death and was never murdered; the only facts about him are found exclusively in the Quran; the Lord God in the Quran never mentions that a human being will remain alive for centuries to emerge suddenly to people. We are to believe in the entirety of the Quran as the Absolute Truth, including details about Jesus Christ. Of course, he was a mortal prophet and the Lord God granted him many miracles; Jesus had but one, clear message to convey: There is no God but Allah. We should never pose questions about details never mentioned in the Quran about the metaphysical unknown/unseen realm of the past; we cannot know/imagine the literal sense/meaning of this verse about Jesus: "Rather, God raised him up to Himself. God is Mighty and Wise." (4:158) and this one about Idris who was another prophet: "And We raised him to a high position." (19:57). As for the silly myth of the so-called second coming of any mortals (e.g., prophets and non-prophets) believed by some People of the Book and some gullible Sunnites and Shiites, it is derived from the Pharaonic mythology; i.e., the story of Isis, Osiris, and Horus.  

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Mr. M. Sadek and Mr. Morad Al-Khouly

Published in December 1, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir,  … I live in Iran but I come from a Sunnite background, and my Arabic is perfect; I hope that you have time to correct and revise my ideas here about some numerical miraculous features of the Quran reached within my humble research; no one among my Iranian (Shiite) friends would believe my research findings which are as follows: ....................................... … Thank you … 

Answer:

 We cannot prove you right or wrong; the ideas you propose here entails being checked/verified by two Egyptian-Canadians who are among our dear fellow Quranists who specialize in examining the numerical miraculous features of the Quranic text: Mr. M. Sadek and Mr. Morad Al-Khouly.

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About the Third Divorce

Published in December 1, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'd like you to explain to me the Quranic verse 2:230 about the case of divorcing one's wife for the third time … Thank you …

Answer:

 Please read and search within our archive of writings before posing repeated questions to save our time and effort. You can read our article in English about divorce, found on this link:         http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=15977

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'Islamic' brethren?!

Published in December 1, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … Because of your writings and my life experiences, I cast doubt now on the Salafist notion of Islamic brethren. Does Islam (i.e., Quranism) include or not this notion of fraternity; i.e., Muslims being brethren with one another? What is your own opinion?  … Thank you …    

Answer:

 The Lord God says the following in the Quran: "The believers are brothers..." (49:10); this means that the notion of fraternity and being brethren is found in Islam; i.e., all peaceful people on earth are brethren regardless of their religious affiliations (or lack of any); Islam is the religion of peace; Islam/belief in practice or in terms of demeanor is adhering to peaceful behavior. In contrast, disbelief/polytheism in terms of behavior is violence, aggression, committing injustices, and coercion/compulsion in religion. Thus, all peaceful people worldwide are brethren with Quranists (i.e., peaceful, pacifist Muslims) since they never commit acts of violence, terrorism, and aggression; your brothers in peace (i.e., in Islam) are those who never support the aggressors and never expel others from their homelands; this is why Quranists side with those weak, oppressed persons in all eras and locations regardless of their color, race, countries,  nationalities, and religious affiliations. Quranists are against aggressors/tyrants in all eras and locations. In our Qurnaism website, we warn and preach tyrants of the Arab world using the Quran so that they may save themselves; we fear for them lest they die without repentance and making amends and enter into Hell accordingly on the Last Day. 

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The Shiite Deity Ali

Published in December 2, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, …  Some Arab thinkers assume that Ali Ibn Abou Talib had some socialist ideas; is that true? Was Ali a precursor of socialism? What do you think of that as a historian?  …  Thank you …  

Answer:

 As per history written about Ali and his stances, sermons, and speeches, he was neither a socialist nor a capitalist; rather, he was a seeker of wealth and rule; he was a worshiper of Mammon; his struggle within the Arab civil war was for the sake of keeping the throne to himself; he lost and got assassinated within this struggle because Mu'aweiya, his rival and adversary, was shrewder and more cunning. We refer you to our book, in English, titled "The Unspoken-of History of the Pre-Umayyad 'Righteous' Caliphs", found on this link:        http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=83

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About Retribution

Published in December 2, 2018

Question: … Dear Sir, … What is your own view of the Sunnite fiqh rule about never to put a father to death (in retribution) for his murdering his own son(s)/daughter(s) since he 'owned' them and was the reason for their being born when he got married? … Thank you …        

Answer:

 The Sunnite fiqh is filled with myths and silly, irrational ideas that reflect the patriarchal notions of protecting males; Sunnite scholars assumed that murdering one's own son is perfectly 'right' and that this murdered son should never be the cause of the death of his own father who killed him! Another irrational Sunnite fiqh rule is not to put a murderer to death (in retribution) if he murdered any non-Muslims (e.g., Jews and Christians)! We have refuted all these erroneous views in our writings 30 years ago, many of these writing have been published in Cairo, Egypt, and they are found now on our Quranism website. Murdering a soul is punishable in Hell for eternity. The Quran entails that murderers should be put to death in retribution; yet, within facilitation in the Quranic sharia laws, this may be avoided when (within mutual consent) murderers pay Diyya money (i.e., compensation money) to the family of the victim: "O you who believe! Retaliation for the murdered is ordained upon you: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, the female for the female. But if he is forgiven by his kin, then grant any reasonable demand, and pay with good will. This is a concession from your Lord, and a mercy. But whoever commits aggression after that, a painful torment awaits him." (2:178). Compensation money or diyya is due also in cases of manslaughter as per the verse 4:92.