Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Dear Brother Burhan, Asalaam Walekum

and Thankyou for all your help.

I am a student of science.Alhamdulillah I have a strong faith in Allah.As far as I know( and this is just my opinion),every rule and law in Islam is backed by a scientific or logical reason.Though I`m compelled to follow islam as it is, I feel i`m more convinced about a query in islam, if its proved by logical reasoning, rather than by some example from the past.The following are couple of doubts that i wanted to clear, and i would be very grateful if you could support answers with logical reasons:

1:Apart from blind faith in Allah, is questioning islam(not to doubt in it, but rahter to stregthen it) wrong.

2:Why is listening to music haraam.

3:Why is drawing or taking pictures haraam.

4:Why can i not talk to or touch a non-mehraam girl. I have asked these questions before, and am still awaiting its reply.I would be honestly thankful, if i could get an answer this time.

Thankyou and God Bless.

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Questions in Islam

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His  forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your question:Apart from blind faith in Allah, is questioning islam(not to doubt in it, but rahter to stregthen it) wrong.

Questioning anything in Islam to increase one’s faith, and search and seek the wisdom behind every word and command of Allah Subhanah and His Messenger (saws) is not wrong at all; it is absolutely allowed and encouraged in Islam! For when one is convinced with the wisdom and logic behind the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), his faith in the deen will increase and make him a better practicing believer.

If one asks a question to learn and/or understand the deen, or one asks a question so that he may understand the ‘hikmah’ or wisdom behind any command of the deen so that he may follow it with more conviction; there is absolutely no harm; in fact, such questions where one may learn and understand the deen of Islam are encouraged. When one wants to learn or understand the deen, he is encouraged to ask any number of question on any belief or command of Islam.

But if one is a muslim, and is fundamentally against the guidance and teachings of Allah and His Messenger (saws), and has absolutely no intention to accept, follow or obey their commandments, but simply asks questions to challenge the commands and prove them wrong and non-beneficial; such type of questions are discouraged in Islam.

The above guidance is only for the believers. If one is a non-believer, he is allowed to ask any number of questions he wants on Islam; and the believers and scholars must strive to satisfy his queries in the most polite and best manner, to enable his heart to soften to the Truth of Al-Islam.

Your question:Why is listening to music haraam.

Music itself is not forbidden in Islam; only some type of music is forbidden. We have written a comprehensive answer on the issue of ‘music’ and are attaching the answer for your perusal.

Your question:Why is drawing or taking pictures haraam.

Drawing or taking pictures are not forbidden per say, only drawing pictures of animate objects is forbidden.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4140 Narrated by Ali ibn AbuTalib

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘The angels do not enter a house which contains an (animate) picture, a dog, or a man who is impure by sexual defilement.’

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.843 Narrated by Abu Salim

Once Gabriel promised to visit the Prophet but he delayed and the Prophet got worried about that. At last he came out and found Gabriel and complained to him of his grief (for his delay). Gabriel said to him, "We do not enter a place in which there is an (animate) picture, or a dog."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 7.834 Narrated by Muslim

We were with Masruq at the house of Yasar bin Numair. Masruq saw pictures on his terrace and said, "I heard 'Abdullah saying that he heard the Prophet (saws) saying, "The people who will receive the severest punishment from Allah will be the (animate) picture makers.' "

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 4.448 Narrated by Abu Talha

I heard the Messenger of Allah (saws) saying; "Angels (of Mercy) do not enter a house wherein there is a dog or a picture of a living creature (a human being or an animal)."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith 3.428 Narrated by Said bin Abu Al Hasan

While I was with Ibn 'Abbas a man came and said, "O father of 'Abbas! My sustenance is from my manual profession and I make these pictures." Ibn 'Abbas said, "I will tell you only what I heard from Allah's Apostle. I heard him saying, 'Whoever makes an (animate) picture will be punished by Allah till he puts life in it, and he will never be able to put life in it.' " Hearing this, that man heaved a sigh and his face turned pale. Ibn 'Abbas said to him, "What a pity! If you insist on making pictures, I advise you to make pictures of trees and any other unanimated objects."

Your question:Why can i not talk to or touch a non-mehraam girl.

When something is declared ‘haraam’ in Islam, then all the roads that lead to the haraam are also considered haraam! Allah Subhanah has declared the act of ‘zina’ haraam and a grave sin in Islam; thus all the roads that lead one to the path of ‘zina’ are also considered haraam.

Allah Subhanah created man and woman, and He is the one who created their nature. He has put a natural physical attraction between the man and the woman, and opened a legal way of marriage to fulfill this natural requirement, and made this natural requirement a process that would result in the continuation of mankind on this earth.

When one meets, or talks, or touches ones mother, or sister, or daughter, or any other mehram woman, there is no sexual physical attraction towards these woman. But when one meets any non-mehram woman, or talks casual talk to her, or touches her, his natural physical attraction is aroused towards these woman, which may lead the person to the path of the heinous sin of fornication or adultery. And this act of fornication and adultery is so evil and so heinous, that it starts destroying oneself, one’s family, and ultimately one’s society with its evil results!

Islam (and almost all other religions) have recognized this evil of fornication and adultery as being evil and harmful to man and his society, and although ‘zina’ is discouraged in all religions, Islam is the only religion which has closed all the roads that lead one to the evil path of zina! Islam has commanded both, the believing man and the believing woman, to lower their gaze and guard their modesty when in the presence of non-mehrams, commanded both, the believing man and the believing woman, not to socialize casually with non-mehram members of the opposite sex, commanded the believing woman not to display her beauty in public, commanded the believing woman to cover herself adequately in the presence of non-mehram men, etc. After closing all the doors that lead to the evil path of zina, Islam has declared the sin of ‘zina’ haraam and a grave sin!

Meeting, talking casually, and touching a non-mehram woman opens the door to the evil of zina; thus these acts are absolutely discouraged and considered a sin in the deen of Islam.

Every society looks down upon adultery and fornication, but in their ignorance have allowed the non-mehram man and woman to meet, talk casually, and touch and even kiss each other! These so-called modern-educated-ignorant people recognize the evils of adultery in society, but have opened all the doors that lead to adultery and fornication! The societies that so propagate and open the doors to the evil of ‘zina’ in their self-declared notions and slogans of ‘rights’ and ‘freedom’, are today paying the price for their ignorance!

Statistics are galore that in such societies, a huge percentage of their daughters lose their honor in their teens, a huge percentage of their daughters are pregnant while still in school, a huge percentage of their men and women prefer to stay single for they shun the responsibilities of marriage because they can satisfy their natural physical requirements easily, and a vast majority of their married men and women cheat out of marriage! That is precisely the society Islam does not want to build for mankind; for Islam guides the believers towards building a wholesome and righteous society of morality, honesty, justice and God-consciousness: where man, his property and above all, his honor, are safe and sacrosanct! Then and only then, can man accomplish the honorable mission that he was sent for on earth!

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan