Question Surah 5:6 provides instructions for ritual ablution before prayer. It mentions only the face, the hands, the arms, and the feet. In your opinion, is this all that is necessary to wash according to the Shari`ah or is a Muslim required to wash the nose, ears, and neck etc. as Hadith dictates? Answer In […]
Archives for April 2001
Does the Qur’an Provide Information on Any Unknown Scientific Facts?
Question You write in one of your responses1: In my opinion, the miracle of the Qur’an at such instances, is not in ‘exposing’ any unknown ‘scientific’ facts (as some Muslims like to believe), but in generally restricting itself to its making references to these natural phenomena in such words, which would not only serve their […]
The Qur’anic Depiction of the Day of Judgment – Al-Muzzammil 73: 17
Question What does the phrase “The Day when Children will be hoary-headed” mean (73:17)? Does this just mean that children’s hair will start turning gray as a sign of the Last Day? The descriptions of Judgment Day in general indicate heavy catastrophe and disaster upon disaster. Why the need to make the Day of Judgment […]
The Scope of Religion
Question What exactly is religion? Answer ‘Religion’ is the natural corollary of one’s belief in the existence of God. ‘Religion’, in fact, entails the details of our relationship with our Creator. This really implies that the contents of any given ‘religion’ are actually based on and are the extension of the concept and introduction to […]
Are the Prophets of God Necessarily the Political Leaders of Their Respective People as Well?
Question After reading your responses regarding the obligation (or apparent lack of) of the Khilafaah upon the Muslims, one question came to my mind. Did the Prophet’s (P) position as a Prophet of Allah mean he was automatically the leader of the Muslims? Can another person be the leader of the Muslim Community, in the […]
Hadith Regarding Fate of Children on the Day of Judgment
Question With reference to your previous response on the topic: ‘What shall be the fate of children on the Day of Judgment’, I need to know your understanding about the following Hadith: Narrated Ibn `Abbas: Allah’s Messenger (saw) was asked about the children of Al-Mushrikun1. The Prophet (saw) replied, “Since Allah created them, He knows […]
Solomon (pbuh) Listening to Ants
In one his writings1, Mr. Katz has pointed out a scientific contradiction in the Qur’an. Mr. Katz writes: In Sura 27:18-19 Solomon overhears a conversation of ants. Fact is that ants do not use sound but smell to communicate. Al-Nam’l 27: 18 – 19 read as follows: حَتَّىٰ إِذَا أَتَوْا عَلَىٰ وَادِ النَّمْلِ قَالَتْ نَمْلَةٌ […]
To Speak or Not to Speak
In one of his brief writings1, Mr. Katz has pointed out a ‘curious’ statement of the Qur’an in Maryam 19: 26. Mr. Katz has cited the following translation of the referred verse: … And if you see any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent, so I shall not speak to […]
One Creator or Many?
In one of his articles1 Mr. Jochen Katz has pointed out a contradiction in Al-Mu’minoon 23: 14, Al-Saaffaat 37: 125 and Al-Zumar 39: 62. In the first two verses, the Qur’an has used the phrase ‘the best of creators’, which, according to Mr. Katz, obviously implies the existence of other creators as well, while in […]
Marrying the Wives of Adopted Sons
In one of his articles1 Mr. Jochen Katz has pointed out a contradiction in Al-Ahzaab 33: 37 and Al-Ahzaab 33: 4 – 5. Explaining the contradiction in these verses, Mr. Katz writes: It is important that Muslims can marry the divorced wives of adopted sons [Sura 33:37], yet it is forbidden to adopt sons [Sura […]