Fatwas: Part Thirty-Five

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

About Our Being Hosted at Al-Hurra Channel

Published in April 14, 2017

Question: We have received many email messages about our appearance in one episode of a TV show called "Special Meeting" at Al-Hurra Channel, and we quote some lines from these messages:  (… Dear Dr. Mansour, peace be with you; once I've watched this video, I felt pained because I cannot help you in any possible way; I live too far from you and I could not help notice from the look at your face how tired you look; may God grant you long life and aid you in your intellectual jihad to raise people's awareness to return to God's Word; it is a disgrace that most people follow their whims instead and have no patience to learn and read … Dear Dr. Mansour, this is my comment upon watching the video of Al-Hurra in which you've made an appearance; I admire very much your brief, to-the-point responses, and I laughed at the shallowness and low cultural level of the other interlocutors who opposed your views, esp. the Azharite professor who uttered many obvious mistakes; indeed, reforming Al-Azhar seems to me an impossibility; it must be closed down; I sincerely hope that Al-Hurra would allow you to appear on a weekly show of your own to combat ISIS ideology, this will prove a huge success; other Arab channels and media are filled with Wahabi propaganda hateful to Arabs and biased to Qatar and the KSA that desire to destroy the rest of the Arab world; people are fed up with Wahabi sheikhs and clergymen; Quranist thinkers are a much better alternative; I used to feel angry when I saw you for the first time appear on a Christian extremist TV show that aim to undermine Islam, but your words attracted my mind, and when I discovered your website, one months later I converted to Quranism; the problem is that most media channels prefer not to host you; I hope Al-Hurra would host you more often than not; but the silly presenter should not have interrupted your speech!  … Dear Dr. Mansour, I feel overjoyed to watch your video of Al-Hurra Channel; people long to hear fresh truthful ideas, as they are fed up with Wahabi myths and lies; and I laughed when you've refuted words of Sunnite interlocutors at the show, especially when you asserted that the four pre-Umayyad caliphs are the root and source of terrorism and divisions because of their Arab conquests and civil wars and how the Muhammadans repeat the same conflicts and struggles until now and how ISIS terrorists imitate faithfully the four pre-Umayyad caliphs; in particular, I like the way you said that all hadiths are balderdash causing terrorism, especially by Wahabis, as Wahabism is the culprit behind terror crimes, and how Islam is innocent of all that; I wish you had a TV satellite channel of your own …)     

Answer:

  We thank all of you, and we assert the following. Of course, many people admire what we have said at Al-Hurra, but the majority of people hate it very much as they consider Quranism as an enemy; but we do not care about those haters; it is of vital importance that we personally appear on the media to raise people's awareness about Quranism. If we had just 1% of the media controlled by our intellectual foes, the Muhammadans, we would introduce radical change, as we have strong information and irrefutable facts, of history and the Quran, and know how to debate. Our foes have all the financial means, influence, and all media outlets; they impose media blackout on Quranist thinkers like ourselves; this is why we rarely make appearances in any channels. Al-Hurra headquarters are near our home in VA, and yet, it has hosted us only three times, though some people there know us quote well! We only have to say this: may Almighty God come to our aid.               

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Quranic Chapter One in Prayers

Published in April 14, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Can one perform prayers without reading the Quranic Chapter One and read any other verses instead? … Thank you …  

Answer:

  No; reading the Quranic Chapter One is obligatory and without it, prayers are never deemed acceptable; as for those who do not know Arabic, they can read its translation in their own tongue, and to glorify God in piety using their language.

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Timings of Daily Prayers

Published in April 13, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … At one time, I've discovered that I've performed the noon prayers 5 minutes before it was actually due; is my prayers deemed acceptable in that case?!  … Thank you …      

Answer:

  Basically, Islamic sharia in the Quran is based mitigation and alleviation as well as removing any difficulties in performing acts of worship such as prayers, fasting, pilgrimage, etc. Besides, timings of daily five prayers used to be set long before inventing modern watches and clocks: dawn prayers are due once rays of light are seen, noon prayers are due once sun disc is in the middle of the sky, afternoon prayers are due when the sun disc is in the middle between noon and sunset, sunset prayers are due when the sun disk disappears, and finally, the night prayers are due once the last rays of the sunlight  disappear. Of course, such timings are approximately done; and sometimes, climate conditions would prevent one from observing the exact timings, and one has to estimate them; what matters most is piety and focus within your prayers and to observe piety in the times between every two prayers. Even estimation of timings of prayers is done approximately; in short, it is OK if you've performed one prayer before its due time set by the clock, as the real harm is to be hypocritical about performing prayers to deceive people or use prayers as pretext to commit crimes and sins, as terrorists and extremists do now as well as those making ill-gotten money by manipulating religion.          

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Islam and Liberalism

Published in April 13, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is liberalism OK within your Quranist vision? Does it match with Islam? … Thank you …     

Answer:

   Liberalism has many definitions; if you mean religious freedom and freedom of speech, thought, and expression, then liberalism is OK in Islam, and we refer you to our books (in English) on this topic: about the refuting death penalty for apostasy:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=91

and about the judicial authority in Islam:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/arabic/book_main.php?main_id=100

and about religious freedom in Islam, within the following English articles:

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=16346

http://www.ahl-alquran.com/English/show_article.php?main_id=12913

 We briefly assert to you here that real Islam (i.e., Quranism) is the religion of absolute religious freedom to all people; a given country has no right to claim to ''guide'' people to faith, as guiding oneself is a personal responsibility of each individual human being, and God will judge our differences in religion on the Last Day. The mission of a given country, within Islam, id to safeguard human rights, security, equal opportunity, justice, and human dignity; we refer you     

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 We Beg of You!

Published in April 12, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I beg of you, please, to clarify to me how come that Islam contains no death penalty for 'heretics', despite hundreds of thousands of victims for the last 14 centuries until now? How come that Moses in 2:54 rebuked the Israelites and told them to 'kill' themselves? … Thank you …    

Answer:

 It is we who beg you, my son, to keep on reading our entire archive; you still a novice in Quranism. Please read our book (in English and in Arabic) refuting death penalty for apostasy and your questions will be answered. As for the verse you quote, it has nothing to do with any penalty for 'heretics', and we assert that Quranic stories are not a source of sharia legislations in Islam, as legislations are in verses of commands and prohibitions. We welcome you to our website; read more and learn before posing repeated questions.   

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Search Engine No Longer Working

Published in April 12, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'm of Turkish origin, and I've been reading on your English website for two years no, and I admire your writings very much that guide me to real Islam … But I'd like to be permitted to draw your attention that the search engine of your website is no longer working; I need this feature to look for certain topics on your website; please restore it to it for the sake of convenience of readers … Thank you …    

Answer:

  Actually, we pay Google to make the search engine of our website work, but Google policies have changed and this caused out search engine to be out of order; we will try to fix it and pay Google to continue this service. May God come to our aid. We will never despair or give up our hope for reform and raising awareness of all people.   

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Mom and Dad!

Published in April 15, 2017

Question:  … Dear Sir, … Is it OK to address my mother and father by their first names or should I address by titles like "Mom", ''Mommy'', ''Dad', and ''Daddy''? … Thank you …      

Answer:

  You should address your parents in the way that will please them; this is part of kind treatment to one's parents in terms of deeds and words.

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Greetings by Saying: Welcome

Published in April 15, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is it OK to say ''welcome'' and other words of greetings instead of the so-called ''Islamic'' phrase of "peace be upon you'', which I do not like? … Thank you …   

Answer:

   God says in the Quran: "When you are greeted with a greeting, respond with a better greeting, or return it. God keeps count of everything." (4:86). This means that this verse covers all types of greetings words; the phrase ''peace be upon you'' is not Islamic or obligatory as extremist Sunnites imagine; one can greet others anyway acceptable in a given society and respond to being greeting in the same manner using the same signs, gestures, or words: Peace be upon you!, Peace be with you!, Good morning!, Bonsoir!, Bonjour!, Hi!, Welcome! Hello! etc. Extremists Sunnites, especially Wahabis, would frown in fury at anyone greeting them by any other words without using the hackneyed phrase "Peace be upon you!" and would respond by it emphatically if greeted by any  other phrases, or do not respond at all! Shame on them; this shows their hatred of all non-Wahabis.        

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Assassination of Caliphs

Published in April 15, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I admire your writings very much; keep up the excellent work … I'm impressed by your articles on Arab history, especially how caliphs were sometimes assassinated by being poisoned, such as Al-Mahdi and Al-Hadi by Queen Al-Khayzuran during the Abbasid Era … But what about the Umayyad Era? Which books mention that the Umayyad caliphs Yazeed Ibn Mu'aweiya and his son Mu'aweiya Ibn Yazeed were poisoned? How did you know? Please cite your references to me … Thank you …   

Answer:

 We assert here to you that most of the Umayyad accounts of history have been written during the Abbasid Era, after the Umayyad Era ended; thus, there are many gaps in it and things not known, and many events that are written without proper context or explanation. No one mentions in any reference that any Umayyad caliphs were poisoned but Omar Ibn Abdul-Aziz; as for the other ones, it is our conclusion. For instance, Yazeed Ibn Mu'aweiya died suddenly in the prime of his youth and he was brimming with youth and vigor; this means that it is most likely that he was poisoned. In fact, the Umayyads used to get rid of their foes outside and inside the Umayyad palaces in Damascus by poisoning them within intrigues and schemes. As for Mu'aweiya Yazeed Ibn Mu'aweiya, historical accounts assert he was poisoned; this is not our guess. We refer you to our article titled "A Murder Committed in 99 A.H.", about the sudden death of the Umayyad caliph Suleiman Ibn Abdul-Malik Ibn Marwan, we conclude that he was poisoned based on certain fats mentioned about him in history books. You are welcome to read more within our archive of writings on history researches and books and pose more questions about them. 

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Great Ijtihad

Published in April 16, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I'm a new Quranist … In the Quranic Chapter 12, affluent Egyptian women cut their hands in awe once they saw the beauty of Joseph, and this same verb of cutting is used about male and female thieves; this means that this punishment is NOT chopping hand off but to cause a sign in the hand of a thief to stigmatize him/her … Besides, God in 16:72 tells us about getting progeny from one's spouse; this means that female and male slaves are never to be enjoyed in bed without legal marriage contract … Are my deduced ideas here, as per what I understood from the Quran, OK as far as Quranism is concerned? … Thank you …      

Answer:

 This is great ijtihad (i.e., innovative ponderings), and we thank you for sharing it with us; you are very welcome to write articles on our website.

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A Satellite TV Channel for Quranists

Published in April 17, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … I was wondering why don't all Quranists collect their efforts and cooperate together and donate money to launch a radio station dedicated to Quranism and/or a satellite TV channel, using all living languages; of course, workers in such channel will have to be heavily guarded so as not to allow extremists to murder them; this media blackout on Quranists must stop; I myself can participate I such an endeavor, as I speak Arabic and Kurdish; all Quranists around the globe must be united to realize this dream … Thank you …         

Answer:

  This dream is not impossible; but it can be realized only if among the 1.5 billion 'Muslims' one rich man/woman with reasonable mind. We are sure there are hundreds of thousands that may finance such a project, but who and where are they? How could we get to contact them and get to know rich Quranists?! All Quranists we know now are just as impecunious as we are. But the endeavor we all do is to make our website of Quranism reach as many people as possible; one day, a rich Quranist man/woman may finance and launch a Quranist TV channel for us. All Quranists make people get to know our website within cyberspace, especially websites of newspapers and channels. May Almighty God come to the aid of all of us, Quranists.    

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Welcome to Our Website as a Reader

Published in April 18, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I'm overjoyed to contact you via email for the first time; I have a few questions that I’d like to be permitted to put to you: Are acts and deeds of the Prophet in the Quran are to be modeled by us as he is our role-model? Why were the Quranic verses not revealed as wholly as one text at one time? Why Muhammad has not Sunna of his own, as you say?! Why we never find in the Quranic text how to perform prayers?! By the way, I'm just an ordinary Muslim who seek the Truth; I'm not debating or defying your person, Sir … Thank you …

Answer:

  You are a novice; please read more on our archive; thousands of articles and tens of our books that will take several months to be read are waiting for you, and they include answers to all your queries. You are welcome a new reader of our website. Thank you.

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Piety Is in the Hearts

Published in April 19, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … It is funny that Salafist Sunnites assume that wearing clothes that touch the ground (for men) is a sign of arrogance and all their clothes must be shortened; is not arrogance linked to hearts and behaviors not clothes? … Thank you for your time …     

Answer:

  Salafist Wahabi Sunnite religion is owned by its fashioners and fabricators and it reflects their own culture; it has nothing to do with Islam (Quranism); real piety resides within one's heart, or a soul submitting to God in the fear of Him, in all one's stances and behavior.           

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Religion and Homeland

Published in April 20, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Does the motto of Egyptians that says (Religion is dedicated to God, and homeland for all) copes with Quranism/Islam? … Thank you …   

Answer:

  Certainly; this is an original Islamic principle in our view; it embodies citizenship, equality, and absolute religious freedom for everyone; a Quran-based rule in a given country entails that peace in behavior toward all people as the basis for citizenship, as all peaceful people are ''Muslims'' in terms of demeanor, regardless of religious denominations or lack of it to everyone; religious differences will be settled by God on the Day of Judgment. Those fighting the peaceful society and breaching peace are aggressive polytheists in terms of behavior if they are foreign invaders that  persecute peaceful people (religiously or otherwise), and also if they are a gang of criminals inside homeland, like terrorists, who deserve to be punished as per the Quranic verse 5:33.      

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Charity for Progeny and the Poor

Published in April 21, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … I was wondering if the rewards by God are the same when one donates money charitably to one's poor sons and daughters, or relatives, and to any poor, impecunious stranger who is not a relative … What do you think? … Thank you …     

Answer:

 The divine rewards, counted by God the Omniscient, depends on the amount of charity money and if the donor or alms-giver spends from something really dear to him/her and if their money is legal or ill-gotten. Besides, God knows of a person gives hypocritically to get acclaim or fame or seeking only to please the Almighty. Rewards for charitable people are granted in this world and the next, provided that they adhere to piety and to the belief in God and the Last Day. For instance, polytheists and atheists are rewarded for their doing charity only in this world and not in the Hereafter; this rewards are not necessarily more profits; they might be good health, happiness, success, etc. and these are better than money. Believers must know the categories of persons deserving charity: one must provide for one's progeny who are not yet working, even if this progeny  do not live within the same household of their parents, and the poor, the needy, the impecunious, the orphans, the wayfarers, etc. have their share of donation/alms money: "And give the relative his rights, and the poor, and the wayfarer..." (17:26); "So give the relative his rights, and the destitute, and the wayfarer. That is best for those who seek God's presence. Those are the prosperous." (30:38).     

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Caricaturist Sketch

Published in April 22, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Sheikhs gathered to talk about the holy awaited imam Al-Mahdi who will come near the end of days, and they preached to people that once he'd emerge and show up, all conditions of people will get better on all levels as absolute justice will reign supreme over the Earth, ruled by H.R.H. Al-Mahdi, for a millennium, and the sermon, attended by thousands who hear those sheikhs, ended in communal invocation and supplication to God to hasten the emergence of Al-Mahdi to make his appearance soon enough. Suddenly, H.R.H. Al-Mahdi, king of the Realm of the Universe, with Earth as its capital, emerged before all the congregations, who kneeled in awe. In his full pomp, splendor, and glory he approached those sheikhs, who looked at him with adoration, telling people that all signs and marks of sovereignty about him assured them that this is the real H.R.H. Al-Mahdi, as per the tomes and volumes of the Middle-Ages hadiths, and they gave him the microphones to deliver a speech to the gathered masses. Once he held the mikes from them, H.R.H. Al-Mahdi outspokenly and vociferously thanked the sheikhs for their endeavors and told them to stay at home to rest, caring only for their families, as he desires no clergy during his stay on Earth. The sheikhs of the Muhammadans looked at one another, and then shouted at him that they will never leave their jobs: they love to garrulously talk and chatter endlessly and they will never cease to get richer in their high-rank posts and will never cede their power, superiority, dominance, and authority over the masses. They shouted at him that how anybody dared to ask them to step down?! They shouted to the congregation that this fake Al-Mahdi was an inveterate liar and he was surely the Anti-Christ! … Now, what do you think of this sarcastic style within which we've written this passage? … Thank you  …  

Answer:

  You style of writing is excellent; thank you for sharing these lines with us. Please go on ridiculing and caricaturing the holy cows of the Muhammadans; we would like to create an account for you on our website to write articles in the same vein (so please send us your personal data), or if you already have an account as a reader, write your caricaturist sketch within a comment.                 

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A Jewish or Christian President

Published in April 23, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … Is it OK if the Quran-based country, within your Quranist views, would have a Jew or a Christian as its president? … Thank you …

Answer:

 Yes of course, and even an atheist president and female president too; the Quran-based rule in a direct-democracy country is a state of peace (i.e., peaceful demeanor in dealing with all people), and any citizens are the peaceful ones in terms of behavior, regardless of religious affiliation or denomination. The people at that case rule themselves and listen to experts in all fields for the benefit of society, and those experts and presidents assume their posts when people choose them and can be deposed anytime by people as well; what matters most is that a president is able and fit for serving citizens.

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About Donations

Published in April 24, 2017

Question: …  Dear Sir, … How can I donate money to your IQC in the easier way through the internet? I have a phone application by which I can send and transfer any sum to your bank account … Thank you …     

Answer:

  There is a section in the main interface of our website for donations; some of our fellow Quranists donate for us, and if it had not been for them, our website would not have been maintained until now, with the grace of God. we never urge anyone to donate; this is a voluntary act for those desiring to strive for God's sake to please God and obtain His reward; God does not need us; we need Him.  

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A Nonbelieving Just Ruler

Published in May 3, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … If there are Jewish or a Christian just rulers who never believe in the Quran, would they be better than a tyrant who claims to believe in the Quran? Which situation is better?  … Thank you …    

Answer:

  People must focus on justice, as rulers' guidance and relation with God are none of people's concern.

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Justice and Piety

Published in May 2, 2017

Question: … Dear Sir, … Is piety liked to justice? If a monotheistic person adheres to justice all one's lifetime, would one be deemed as pious? …  Thank you …   

Answer:

  Please read our articles about justice in Islam; we briefly assert here that piety and justice in one's relation with God is monotheism of (There is no God but Allah), and justice in relation to people and environment means fairness and equity, while corruption occurs in the environment because of injustice like what we see in the Middle-Eastern countries now.