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:

I have a few doubts listed below.

1. I had a 2 choices, one to carry on with my business in India or to come to UK to do a course. In this context I had approached a Maulvi and he opened a book with some Arabic letters inscribed in some order, I don`t know and asked me to touch somewhere on one of the pages. I selected one letter, he made some calculations and told me that coming to UK is better. I am not sure it is because of that but now I am in UK doing the course. Is there any basis for this or is it a form of shirk or what?
2. There used to be a TV program every Friday back in Kerala State of India. People send letters with regards to their problems to one Maulavi and he gives the solutions like doing so and so Namaz at so and so time, so-and-so dhikr, and so and so names of Allah, a combination of them, so and so no. of times. Are they authentic or have any basis in Islam? One fellow wanted a house, and he advised to say `Ya Laahu, Ya Naafi, Ya ____ (don`t remember)` a no. of times, and he will have his house. He also advised one person to chant some name of Allah 1000 times on Friday in order to see the Prophet(Sallallahu Alaihim Wasallam) in a dream.
3. In what language will the Angels question us in the grave? What language will Allah(Subhana Wa Ta`alah) speak to us on the Day of Judgement?
4. Is it possible to shake hands with non-mehram women if I am wearing gloves?

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Answer:

Faal and moulvi scam

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 none 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: …..I had a 2 choices, one to carry on with my business in India or to come to UK to do a course. In this context I had approached a Maulvi and he opened a book with some Arabic letters

The Glorious Quran was revealed by Allah Subhanah as a Book of Guidance and not as a recipe to foretell or find out what the future holds for one in regards to worldly or personal matters like business, commerce, marriage, etc. Allah has bestowed man with intelligence and the power of reasoning, and one must use their bestowed intelligence, wisdom and experience in determining the path that is best suited to them in all such worldly matters.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 31 Surah Luqmaan verse 34:

34 Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (Alone). It is He Who sends down rain and it is He (Alone) Who knows what is in the wombs. Nor does anyone know what it is that he will earn on the morrow: nor does anyone know in what land he is to die. Verily with Allah is full knowledge and He is acquainted (with all things).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 72 Surah Jinn verses 25-27:

25 Say (O Prophet (saws)): "I know not whether the (punishment) which ye are promised is near or whether my Lord will appoint for it a distant term.

26 "He (Alone) knows the Unseen, nor does He make any one acquainted with His Mysteries

27 Except (what He Wills to) a Messenger whom He has chosen.”

It is absolute misguidance and a manifestation of the abomination of ‘shirk’ to determine one’s future in the life of this world by randomly opening a page of any book, or even (Allah forbid) the Glorious Quran! The people who open these so-called ‘faals’ and the people who solicit their future from such unscrupulous ‘moulvis’ and ‘scholars’, both are in manifest sin and will be held severely accountable in the Court of the Lord Most Majestic for making a mockery of the Guidance of Allah Subhanah!

Asking a supposed ‘moulvi’ or ‘scholar’ whether or not it would be more beneficial in the future if one should do a business in one country or study in another country makes as much sense as asking a chemist to repair one’s television!!!!!

What one can and should do is take the example of the Messenger of Allah (saws) and when one has to choose or make a decision between two or several lawful options, perform the Sunnah prayer and supplication of ‘istakhara’ and consult Allah Subhanah to guide them to the best decision; and put their full trust, faith, and belief in the Knowledge and Power of the Lord of the Worlds.

The Messenger of Allah (saws) would supplicate this ‘dua’ when doing ‘istakhara’:

‘O Allah! I seek Your guidance (in making a choice) by virtue of Your
knowledge, and I seek ability by virtue of Your power, and I ask You of Your
great bounty. You have power, I have none. And You know, I know not. You are
the Knower of hidden things.
O Allah! If in Your knowledge, (this matter) is good for my religion, my
livelihood and my affairs; immediate and in the distant, then ordain for me,
make it easy for me and bless it for me. And if in Your knowledge, (this
matter) is bad for my religion, my livelihood and my affairs; immediate and
in the distant, then turn it away from me, and turn me away from it. And
ordain for me the good wherever it be and make me pleased with it.’

Give absolutely no weight or importance to the advice of the unscrupulous ‘moulvis’ who claim to determine the future by reading the ‘faal’; but rather use your wisdom, intelligence, and experience, and make your best judgement regarding the matter; and above all, consult Allah Subhanah by doing the Sunnah prayer and supplication of ‘istakhara’ and then put your full trust in Allah Subhanah Alone in everything that you do. Insha-Allah, the Merciful and Bounteous Lord will keep away all harm from you and take you in His Sublime Protection. Ameen.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verses160:

If Allah helps you, none can overcome you! And if Allah forsakes you, who is there, then, after Allah that can help you? Therefore, the true believers should trust in Allah Alone.

Your Question: ……There used to be a TV program every Friday back in Kerala State of India. People send letters with regards to their problems to one Maulavi and he gives the solutions like doing so and so Namaz at so and so time, so-and-so dhikr, and so and so names of Allah, a combination of them, so and so no. of times. Are they authentic or have any basis in Islam?

We have neither seen the program, nor are we obviously qualified to comment on it! The best (and only) way to determine whether the ‘remedies’ or ‘solutions’ given by the ‘Moulvi’ are within the boundaries of Islam is to determine whether those ‘solutions’ are endorsed by Allah and His Messenger (saws)…..If the ‘moulvi’ gives the same solutions as given or endorsed by Allah and His Messenger (saws), one should accept them wholeheartedly; and if one finds out that the ‘solutions’ given by the ‘moulvi’ are not endorsed from the Quran and the Sunnah, then one should know with absolute conviction that these ‘solutions’ are the inventions and fabrications of the ‘moulvi’ himself, and have absolutely nothing to do with Islam and Guidance!

Your Question: In what language will the Angels question us in the grave? What language will Allah(Subhana Wa Ta`alah) speak to us on the Day of Judgement?
Dear and Beloved brother in Islam, what exactly will happen in the life after death is amongst the knowledge of the ‘unseen’, and that Knowledge is with none save Allah Subhanah. The only knowledge that has reached man of the exact life and conditions of the Hereafter has to be either from what Allah Subhanah has revealed in His Glorious Quran, or what He has made known to the Messenger of Allah (saws) through inspiration.

To the best of our knowledge there is no particular language of the Hereafter which has been specified in the Quran and the Sunnah; but it is absolutely safe to assume that the Lord Who created everything in existence will make sure that everyone will understand the language they are spoken to in the realms of the Hereafter!

The ‘operating system’ of every individual will be absolutely aligned to speak and understand the language spoken in the Hereafter! Not only will man be able to understand and respond in the language of the Hereafter, but everything that is brought as a witness in the Just Court of the Majestic Lord will be given the power of speech by their Lord! And such a thing is indeed easy for Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 36 Surah Ya-Seen verse 65:

65 That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to Us and their feet bear witness to all that they did.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 41 Surah Ha-Meem verses 19-23:

19 On the Day that the enemies of Allah will be gathered together to the Fire they will be marched in ranks.

20 At length when they reach the (Fire) their hearing, their sight, and their skins will bear witness against them as to (all) their deeds.

21 They will say to their skins: "Why bear ye witness against us?" They (their skins) will say: "Allah hath given us speech, (He) Who giveth speech to everything: He created you for the first time and unto Him were ye to return.

22 "Ye did not seek to hide yourselves lest your hearing, your sight, and your skins should bear witness against you! But ye did think that Allah knew not many of the things that ye used to do!

23 "But this thought of yours which ye did entertain concerning your Lord hath brought you to destruction, and (now) have ye become of those utterly lost!"

Allah is our witness brother, the absolute least of the problems of man on that Eventful and Tumultuous Day will be the language which is spoken and understood in the Realms of the Hereafter!

Your Question: …Is it possible to shake hands with non-mehram women if I am wearing gloves?

It is not lawful or permissible for a believer who sincerely fears Allah and the Last Day to touch a non-mehram woman without an absolutely valid reason (saving her from an accident, or fire, or in an emergency situation, etc.), leave alone greet her by shaking her hands, absolutely regardless of whether one is wearing gloves or not!

If one trusts, obeys, and follows the guidance and commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of never ever being misled; but if one believes, obeys and follows any other guidance, other than that of Allah and His Messenger (saws), one can be assured of being led astray.

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

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan