Beneficial Knowledge

Praise be to Allaah. Allah has enjoined upon the husband to treat his wife decently and with kindness, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “And live with them honourably” [an-Nisa’ 4:19] . This is one of the rights that are common to both spouses; each must treat the other decently and with kindness.  Each spouse has rights over the other. We have discussed in detail the rights of the spouses over one another in the answer to question no.  10680 One of the rights that the wife has over her husband is that he should keep her chaste by means of intercourse with her. This is obligatory for the one who is able to do it. This is the view of the majority of scholars.  It says in  al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah  (30/127):  One of the rights of the wife over her husband is that he should keep her chaste by having intercourse with her. The majority of fuqaha’ – Hanafis, Maalikis and Hanbalis – are of the view that it is obligatory for the husba...

Praise be to Allaah.   My brother, have great hope in Allaah, and do not let the Shaytaan cause you to despair of the vast mercy of Allaah which He has guaranteed for His believing slaves. What you are telling yourself about this being a sign that you will die following something other than that which Allaah wants is only insinuating whispers (waswaas) from the Shaytaan and his deviant ideas by means of which he wants to tempt the slaves of Allaah and lead them away from their religion. So he comes to a righteous slave and whispers to him that his good deeds are of no avail, or that he is doing them not for the sake of Allaah but to show off to people, so that they will think he is good. All of these are the usual ways with which the Shaytaan tries to trick the slaves of Allaah, especially those who show signs of being righteous – of whom I think that you are one, although I do not praise anyone before Allah – to hinder their efforts. We seek refuge with Allaah from him. ...

Praise be to Allah. Firstly:  Undoubtedly obedience to parents, so long as it does not involve disobedience towards Allah, is one of the greatest of righteous deeds and acts of worship. This is a well-known basic principle in Islam.  The father has the right to take whatever he wants from his son’s wealth, but that is subject to conditions, one of which is that taking it should not cause harm to his son and that he should not take from him in order to give to someone else.  Moreover, he should not take from his son’s wealth in order to waste it on extravagances or buy things that he does not need. This is more obviously forbidden; in fact it is not allowed even if it is one’s own wealth and earnings, so how about if it is his son’s earnings? See the answer to question no.  9594 .  Secondly:  Spending on the father’s maintenance is only obligatory if the father is in difficulty and unable to earn a living from a suitable job. If he is not in d...

Praise be to Allah. Firstly:  Compulsive waswaas refers to thoughts and bad ideas that come one after another to a person’s mind even though he does not want them, in such a way that he cannot rid himself of them, even though he knows and is certain that they are foolish and unacceptable thoughts. They keep coming to his mind compulsively, which causes him a great deal of anguish and distress.  The remedy for compulsive waswaas and other types of waswaas is to remember Allah a great deal, obey Him, and turn to Him, beseeching Him, and seeking refuge with Him; to overlook and ignore the waswaas, and not let oneself get carried away with it. In some cases there is a need to consult a doctor.  See the answers to questions no.  39684  and  90819 . Allah will not punish a person or call him to account for this waswaas, because it is beyond his control and overwhelms him; it does not happen by his choice. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretatio...

Praise be to Allah. Firstly:  Undoubtedly these kind of family problems and annoyances are things that affect one’s life and occupy one’s thoughts, but with a little wisdom, proper conduct, more rational thinking, adhering to the path of fairness and patience for the sake of pleasing the one who has the greatest rights over you – namely your mother – and pleasing the one whom you love, the source of your comfort and the mother of your children – namely your wife – we can resolve the problem and handle the matter in the best manner possible.  Secondly:  We must – may Allah guide us and you aright – inform each party of the rights of the other. The mother must understand that her son’s wife has rights that have been ordained by Allah and taught by the Messenger of Allah; the wife must understand that the mother has rights ordained by Allah and affirmed by the Messenger of Allah.  Moreover, each of them must understand that when Allah ordained rights for pe...

Praise be to Allah. Maintaining good relations with people is something for which you are to be commended and is a good attitude to have. It is not permissible for your maternal aunt, her husband or anyone else to try to spoil these good relationships.  However, it is essential to note that the maternal aunt is of similar standing to the mother, and she has rights that are prescribed in Islam under the heading of maintaining ties of kinship and kind treatment. Hence we advise you to be patient with her and to advise her and her husband, and to use whatever you can of permissible and Islamically prescribed means to make her stop her evil actions by means of wisdom and beautiful exhortation. There is nothing wrong with seeking the help of those who you hope can influence her with sound advice.  But if mixing with them will lead to negative and evil consequences, then keeping a distance from them is what one should do, but that should be done without severing ties altoget...

Praise be to Allah. Firstly:  It is not possible for anyone, no matter who he is, to change the creation of Allah, may He be exalted, from male to female or vice versa. Whoever Allah, may He be exalted, has created as a male can never become a female who menstruates and gives birth!  Yes, the doctors may tamper with him to satisfy his perversion so that he will think that he has become a woman, but he will never be truly female and will live in a state of anxiety and worry, which may lead him to commit suicide.  Secondly:  What a person may feel in his mind and heart, that he is of a gender other than what he appears to be to us not give him an excuse to change his gender; rather it comes under the heading of following the Shaytaan in changing the creation of Allah – outwardly but not truly – and those feelings do not make it permissible for him to undergo surgery or take medicines and hormones to change his outward appearance. Rather he must be content w...