The Creed of Compassion-Islamic Teachings & Answering Doctrinal Misconceptions

Issue No. 2161- If a person divorces his wife two times and returns to her by marriage, or returns to her within ‘iddah, (and if, as an obligatory precaution, each time he has engaged in sexual intercourse with her, and after she saw ḥayḍ and became pure, he divorced her), she becomes haram to him after the third divorce. She will become halal to him only if after she has observed the waiting period, she contracts permanent marriage with another man and has sexual intercourse with him and then gets divorced from him and then observes ‘iddah.

Issue No.607- The second group: those people whose killing has become obligatory as retaliation or as an Islamic legal punishment. Thus, the Islamic judge orders them to perform ghusl of dead body by themselves when they are alive. They will perform three ghusls as per the instructions mentioned earlier. Then they wear two of the three parts of the shroud, i.e., the loincloth and the shirt. Then they camphorate themselves in the same manner as it is done on a dead body. After they are killed, the third piece is pulled over them whereupon the prayer for the dead individual is offered on them and they are buried in the same condition. It is not necessary to wash off the blood from their bodies or their shrouds. And it is not necessary to repeat the ghusl even if they have made themselves najis because of fear.

F) Friday prayer is not obligatory on travellers, women, patients and those who are physically disabled. However, if they participate in the Friday prayer, their prayer will be valid. However, the obligatory precaution is that the five main persons (i.e., the imam and the other four) should be other than them.

Issue No. 2123- If a woman suckles the following persons from her husband’s milk, her husband does not become haram to her, although it is better for her not to do so.1- Her own brother and sister.2- Her own paternal and maternal uncle and aunt.3- The children of her paternal and maternal uncles.4- Her own nephew (brother’s son).5- The brother or sister of her husband.6- The children of her own sister or children of her husband’s sister.7- The paternal and maternal uncles or aunts of her husband.8- The grandchildren of another wife of her husband.

Issue No. 1452- Fasting is not obligatory on those who suffer from polydipsia meaning excessive thirst in a way that they are not able or it is extremely difficult to observe fast. But they should give one mudd of food as kaffāra to an indigent person for every fast, as was mentioned in the previous issue. In addition, it is better that they avoid drinking more than the quantity of water which is necessary for them, and later when they are capable of fasting, they should, on the basis of obligatory precaution, perform the qaḍā fasts.

Issue No. 2129- It is recommended that people who become relatives because of suckling respect one another. However, they do not inherit from one another and do not enjoy the legal rights which relatives enjoy over one another.

Issue No. 2108- If a woman suckles a child with the conditions which will be mentioned in the coming issues, that woman is regarded as its mother, and that man, i.e., the husband of the woman (to whom the milk is related) is considered as its father. The father of that man is considered its paternal grandfather and his mother is considered as its paternal grandmother, his brother is considered as its paternal uncle, his sister is considered as its paternal aunt, and his children are considered as its brothers and sisters. Similarly, the father of that woman (the one who suckles the child) is considered as the child’s maternal grandfather, her mother is considered as its maternal grandmother, her brother is considered as its maternal uncle and her sister is considered as its maternal aunt. Also, the girl who has been suckled by the woman will be haram to that woman’s husband, provided that this man has had sexual intercourse with his wife. One cannot marry the woman who has breastfed his wife, because she is considered to be as his mother-in-law. In other words, when a child is suckled with the conditions that will follow, that child will become maḥram to the following:1- The woman herself (i.e., the woman who suckles the child) and she is called the riḍā‘ī mother.2- The husband of the woman [to whom the milk is related to]; he is called the riḍā‘ī father.3- The father and mother [even the riḍā‘ī mother and father] of that woman and all above them in the family line.4- The children born of that woman or those who are born to her later. 5- The children of the children of that woman, however low they may go in the family line, regardless of whether they are born of her children or her children had suckled them.6- The sister and brother of that woman, even if they are her riḍā‘ī sister and riḍā‘ī brother.7- Paternal uncle and paternal aunt of that woman, even if they are her riḍā‘ī uncle and riḍā‘ī aunt. 8- Maternal uncle and maternal aunt of that woman, even if they are her riḍā‘ī uncle and riḍā‘ī aunt.9- The children of that woman’s husband (to whom the milk is related), however low they may go in the family line, even if they may be his riḍā‘ī children.10- The father and mother of that husband (to whom the milk is related), however high they may go in the family line.11- The sister and brother of the husband (to whom the milk is related), even if they are his riḍā‘ī sister and riḍā‘ī brother.12- The paternal uncle, paternal aunt, maternal uncle and maternal aunt of the husband (to whom the milk is related), however high they may go in the line. There are some other persons also (details regarding whom will be given in the following issues) who become maḥram on account of suckling.

Issue No. 2124- If a woman suckles the paternal aunt's daughter or maternal aunt's daughter of a man she (the woman who suckles) does not become maḥram to that man. However, the recommended precaution is that he should refrain from marrying that woman.

Issue No.2352- There are three groups of persons who inherit from a deceased on the basis of kinship: 1) The first group consists of the deceased’s parents and children, and in the absence of children, the grand children, however down in the family line they may go, and among them whoever is nearer to the deceased inherits his property. And so long as even a single person from this group is present, people belonging to the second group do not inherit.2) The second group consists of the grandfather and the father of the grandfather (as far as the line continues), the grandmother and the mother of the grandmother (as far as the line continues), the sisters and brothers, and in the absence of sisters and brothers their children, whoever from among them is nearer to the deceased, will inherit from him. And so long as even one person from this group is present, people belonging to the third group do not inherit.3) The third group consists of paternal uncles and aunts and maternal uncles and aunts, however distant they are and their descendants, however down the family line they go. Of course, whoever from among them is nearer to the deceased, will inherit from him. And so long as even one person from the uncles and aunts of the deceased is alive, their children do not inherit, and so long as their children are alive, the children of their children will not inherit. There is only one exception to this and that is in case the deceased person has a half-blood paternal uncle and a full-blood male paternal cousin; the former does not inherit anything from his property, rather his property will be inherited by the cousin.

Issue No.681- The criterion for fajr adhān (whether it is a moonlit night or not) for prayer and fast, is the appearance of the morning twilight in the horizon, even though it may not be visible due to the moon shining in the sky. The time for fajr prayer begins from the true dawn (al-fajr al-ṣādiq) [1] and continues until sunrise. The true dawn is a whiteness which spreads out in the eastern horizon. It is better to offer fajr prayer during the first darkness in the morning before it becomes bright.

Issue No.675- Maghrib is the time when the sun disappears in the horizon. The time for maghrib and ‘ishā’ prayers arrives at sunset and continues until “canonical midnight” [which will be explained in upcoming issues]. As a recommended precaution, one should wait until the redness that appears in the east after sunset, passes over one’s head towards the west.

Issue No.672- The time for ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayers is from the beginning of canonical noon (i.e., when the sun starts declining at midday towards the west) until sunset. The best way to find out the start of ẓuhr time is to use an indicator (Shākhiṣ). That is, if we drive a stick or a rod into a flat ground vertically, its shadow will fall westwards when the sun rises in the morning, and as the sun continues to rise, the shadow cast by the indicator will reduce in size. When the shadow is the shortest, it is ẓuhr time, and as it begins getting longer again, and the shadow turns eastwards, it is the beginning of ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayers. However, in some cities, e.g., Mecca, the shadow disappears totally sometimes because the sun shines completely vertically. In these regions, when the shadow reappears, it indicates the time for ẓuhr and ‘aṣr prayers [1].