Ask Me Anything: Muslim Edition

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Ive just read the Koran chapter 5.
It seems to be saying that if the Jews follow the Torah and Christians follow the Gospels then they would be fine. Christians are exaggerating Jesus from a prophet to God and that’s their mistake.

But the gospels does mention Jesus rose from the dead. How does this fit with the earlier comment that if Christians follow the gospels then that would be fine?
 
It depends on the specific sect and the specific situation. Natural methods like tracking the cycle and interruptus are pretty universally allowed. In general, Sunni are permitted to contracept on the condition that both spouses agree to it, it doesn’t result in permanent sterility, and it doesn’t result in harm to the body. So, basically no surgical sterilization and neither spouse is allowed to unilaterally decide to contracept. There is some debate about the last criteria and chemical birth control, so typically people will consult rulings of a mufti or advice by qualified Islamic medical professionals.

Beyond the three forbidden criteria, Muslims are instructed not to fear poverty and so many Muslims feel that there must be some sort of extenuating circumstance to warrant contraception - the risk of a dangerous pregnancy, for instance. Others feel that it’s okay to delay having children until a young couple is firmly established, out of school, etc, but in general Islam encourages people to wait until they’re financially solvent to marry anyway.

My subjective experience from listening to my aunties and cousins and talking to other people my age is that Western Muslims tend to prefer barrier methods and natural methods are more popular in the Middle East. One factor is that reliable barrier or chemical contraception can be quite difficult to get in many parts of the world, so that also affects what method people use. The more conservative a person is, too, the less likely they are to use an artificial form of contraception in my experience.
 
The Biblical gospels, by the Islamic view, carry portions of the original Gospel and so while we would consider them to have inclusions and inaccuracies, the basic message is still there and Christians can still practice righteousness and submission to the will of God even if they’re mistaken about the nature of Jesus.
 
The original Gospel would have been given to Jesus directly prior to his ministry more or less in the same manner that Moses received the tablets of the Law and Mohammed (peace be upon him) received the Koran. The book, like the original Torah in our estimation, would have been lost in the centuries after Jesus, necessitating the revelation of the Koran. When I was doing my religious education, I read some opinions that the original Gospel - the Gospel of Jesus, if you will - might have been one of the source texts for Matthew, Mark, and Luke and that a true version of it may have been in circulation in the Christian communities of the Arab peninsula as late as 600 AD. I’ve read some other people who have connected it to the gospel of Barnabas, but I don’t think the scholarship on that holds up personally since that book was probably written well after the time of Mohammed (peace be upon him).
 
Thank you shazirah! I was just curious about another thing, what is your take on the jizya?
“Fight those who do not believe in Allah or the Last Day, and do not forbidden what has been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, and do not acknowledge the religion of Truth, even if they are of the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued” (Qur’an 9:29)
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It seems that only ISIS or the Taliban and some extremists collect it now, but those in India, the Ottoman Empire, and Sicily had to pay it in the past


Was it an involuntary payment for protection? Or was it to pressure non-Muslims into conversion? Is it acceptable for Muslims in any country in modern times?
 
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Jizya is the corollary to zakat, basically. Zakat is an obligatory tithe that Muslims pay to support the poor, sick, and people without other forms of social support like orphans and widows. It’s like the income tax we pay in the US, basically, if our income tax went primarily into social services. Since non-Muslims don’t pay zakat, in a rightly guided Islamic state, they would pay jizya instead. They can be exempt from jizya for basically the same reasons that someone would become a recipient of zakat funds. Now that there are no longer any rightly guided Islamic states and most people pay some sort of tax to their government anyway, there’s no need for institutionalized jizya or zakat, although Muslims are still obligated to contribute zakat through their mosque.
 
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Zakat is calculated in various ways, but the most common is that one must hold an amount of property or savings equal or greater than the worth of 3 ounces of gold in order to be obligated to contribute zakat, aside from the average cost of basic necessities like food and shelter, and that yearly zakat should total about 2.5% of the wealth one holds over that limit. Right now, you would need to possess something like $4000 worth of funds or property on top of what you need to pay your debts and maintain very basic living conditions. So, if you make $30,000 a year for instance and you rent and you aren’t in debt and don’t have appreciable savings, then probably you’re looking at something like $5000-$15000 that would count towards zakat and your zakat should be around $125 - $375. But if you own property or business shares or have significant savings, bonds, etc, you would need to factor that in.

Here’s a calculator so you can see how it would work out: Zakat Donation - Pay Zakat Online | Islamic Relief USA
 
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It seems to me that there has already been an answer regarding abortion. Read carefully one of the previous posts.
 
Is there any research about the Jews who converted to Islam?
What is their contribution to Islam?

As far as I remember, Saudi Arabia is sympathetic to Israel, is this perceived as a betrayal to the pan-Islamists?
Sometimes it seems that Iran and Saudi Arabia are in a cold war with each other.

Despite optimistic hopes of transformation of societies of Saudis and Iran , there are also assumptions for awakening of extremist Islam, in other parts of the world.
In Central Asia, in the countries of the former Soviet Union and the Caucasus, talk about the possibility of the revival of ISIS.
The experience of ISIS is generally perceived by the Western Islamic Diaspora as the ideal of a theocratic society, or is it prevailing that ISIS discredits Muslims around the world?
 
I read on Wikipedia regarding toilet etiquette, is it an accurate reflection of what Muslims do?


A Muslim must first find an acceptable place away from standing water, or people’s pathways or shade.[2] They are advised that it is better to enter the area with the left foot,[3] facing away from the Qiblah (prayer point).[4]

While on the toilet, one must remain silent. Talking, answering greetings or greeting others is strongly discouraged.[4] When defecating together, two men cannot converse, nor look at each other’s genitals.[5] A man should not touch his genitals with the right hand.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Eating any food while on the toilet is strictly forbidden.[4]

The anus must be washed with water after defecating. Similarly, the penis and vulva must be washed with water after urinating. This washing is known as istinja. The Qur’an suggests that one should wash one’s hands as well, which is discussed in verse 5:6.

When leaving the toilet, one is advised to leave with the right foot,[3] and also say a prayer – “Praise be to Allah who relieved me of the filth and gave me relief.”[4] It is also reported in the hadith of Bukhari that whenever Muhammad went to the toilet, he said “In the name of Allah, O Allah! I seek refuge with You from all offensive and wicked things” (alternate translation: “from evil deeds and evil spirits”)
 
Can i be a Christian and have a Muslim wife? Is that something that is frowned upon?
 
@shazirah Do Muslims eat croissants? Do they regard it as anti-Islamic?
 
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I remember I was driving from Bulgaria to Istanbul and the bus stopped at the bus stop, the passengers went to the bathroom.
I was amazed when I saw the Turks in the washbasin washing their feet.
The first time I saw something like this.
Europeans washed their face and hands , and the Turks stuck their feet in the washbasin and washed their feet.🤣
 
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ISIS is totally abhorrent to most Muslims around the world. However they couch their propaganda, they’re heretics and murderers and dangerous to everyone including other Muslims. They’re basically a death cult and have been labeled a vile sect by many imams and muftis.

I think it’s unlikely that we’ll see something like ISIS pop up again soon, but my hope is that the world will learn from what happened with ISIS. Extremism spreads through trauma, ignorance, and fear of “the other”. That’s one reason why I feel like it’s important for people to talk frankly and civilly about religious differences and to have exposure to the humanity of the “other side”.

Saudi Arabia and Israel are not officially cooperating, but they are sort of under the table and that upsets the Palestinians and other sympathetic groups. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been at each other basically forever because Iran is primarily Shia and the Saudis are Sunni and have historically used their status as the custodian of Mecca to irritate Shia.

There were a number of Jewish converts among the generation of Muslims directly after the death of Mohammed (peace be upon him) and they along with Christian converts contributed the Isra’iliyyat, which are pre-Islamic stories and oral traditions regarding the prophets, the history of the Abrahamic faiths, and information on pre-Islamic practices.
 
Very orthodox Muslims practice that pretty much to the letter, and Muslims on the whole tend to be more concerned with cleanliness because of the state of physical purity required for prayer. Going to the bathroom renders one ritually unclean until purification with water or clean sand in the absence of water, so you can’t do your prayers until you’ve done the usual bathroom cleansing stuff and then the ritual wudu washing necessary for the pure state, which includes washing hands, arms, head, and feet.
 
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