1. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims
  2. Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

Ask A Question About Islam And Muslims

93 Questions

If one is fasting and the menses cycle starts in the middle of the day, does it makes the fast void and should one not continue to fast?
Seyed Ali Shobayri

Bismillah, 

Asalamu Alaykom, 

It would make the fast void and she must repeat it as qada when possible. 

May Allah grant you success 
Is it required to be on Wudhu in order to perform Du'a Ahad? If so, how can women perform this 'Amal for 40 days when they are not able to pray for a period of time?
Amina Inloes

It is not necessary to have wudhu to recite Du'a 'Ahad.
I understand that the Iddah for a divorced woman is 3 menstrual periods or 3 lunar months. If the woman has 2 periods, and then the third does not arrive on time due to stress, is the Iddah then 3 months or does it extend until the 3rd period arrives?
Sayyed Muhammad Husaini Ragheb

You need to wait till the 3rd starts and as soon as it starts the Iddah period is over.
Can a person be born with hatred of Imam Ali (a) or is it something that is developed out of their free will? If the latter, how does that reconcile with what we hear equating hatred of the Imam with illegitimate birth or conception during menses?
Amina Inloes

I think it is good to look at these texts with a proverbial grain of salt and in the historical context, including but not limited to a common trend of denigrating certain enemies of the Imams (A) on the grounds that they were illegitimate, as well as a heavily tribal culture where once's ancestry generally affected one's social identity and life opportunities. In the time of the later Imams, there seems to have been a particularly strong focus on one's paternal ancestry.

Infants are obviously not born with a conscious hatred of Imam Ali (A) since they have to learn first who he is, and their opinions of him are generally shaped according to what they are told. Of course, one could argue that on an existential level, we encounter Imam Ali (A) prior to birth and thereby develop some relationship. One could also argue that one is born with an inherent disposition towards or against what he stood for (justice, truth, etc). Still, one finds, in practice, many people who are not born within the context of a marriage who do have a strong love for Imam Ali, and many people historically who were born within the context of a marriage who fought him. So it is worth considering these statements in more of a historical/cultural context rather than as absolutes.

It is more difficult to comment in practice regarding the latter since most people don't know whether or not they were conceived during that time. However one can glean the general idea that what happens during conception/pregnancy can leave an imprint on the child, and so one who is siring/carrying a child should be thoughtful of that.