Homelessness

131759

Muslims . Homelessness . Sadaqa (Charity)

Do you only get rewards if you give donations to Muslims, or can you get rewarded for helping non-Muslims too such as homeless people?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 3 years ago

It is highly recommended to help any living being in need even animals. Helping non Muslims who are in need is very good keeping in mind the right of our own needy brothers and sisters in faith and our responsibility towards them. We should not neglect helping our own brothers and sisters in need before helping others as it said ( Charity starts at home).

We also need to avoid helping those non Muslims who use the money not in food or medicine of cloth but in alcohol or drugs etc.

128456

Car . Homelessness . Combining Prayers . Salah (Prayers)

Due to being homeless and living in my car, I have been shortening and combining the prayers for almost 3 years. Are my prayers accepted?

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Bismillah,

Asalamu Alaykom,

Firstly I pray that you may come out of the current situation you are in and that you may be blessed with the best of houses.

The example you have mentioned would not permit one to shorten their Salahs and doing so would make your Salah incomplete. You should try your best to make sure that you are praying each Salah in full unless you are able to shorten with the correct conditions.

These salahs would not be valid as they are incomplete. in terms of combining if you mean praying Asr after zuhr, and isha after Maghreb, then this is always valid regardless of where one is.

May Allah grant you success

121571

Water . Sin . Salah (Prayers) . Homelessness

My husband and I are homeless and we live in our car. How can we pray our 5 daily prayers without access to water? Are we committing a great sin when we don't pray?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answer updated 3 years ago

Sorry to hear about your situation. Inshallah it improves soon, by the grace of Allah.

As Shaykh Zoheir said, you can do wudu from a bottle of water. Perhaps you can step out of the car for prayer if it is safe.

If you have a concern about being seen without hijab, just do your best to preserve your modesty as wudhu can essentially be done from under a cloth.

The larger tahara can also be done with a reasonably small amount of water (rather than requiring an actual shower), but for this, modesty is more important of course. I guess you and your husband will have arranged somewhere or some way to wash up.

If you absolutely cannot perform wudhu or ghusl due to modesty reasons, you ca do tayammum.

Water . Sin . Salah (Prayers) . Homelessness

My husband and I are homeless and we live in our car. How can we pray our 5 daily prayers without access to water? Are we committing a great sin when we don't pray?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 3 years ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. The water that is needed to perform wudu does not have to be connected to a source and so it is fine to perform wudu using water from a bottle or container. Wudu can easily be performed with three handfuls of water. Missing prayers is very harmful to a persons wellbeing in this world and the next and is a great sin.

May you always be successful