He is affected by waswaas and swore: “If I get carried away with it again, I will be a kaafir”

I am here to discuss a serious matter that has happened to me and have tried my best to find someone to help me and this is where Ive come.
I have this problem, which my family says its waswasa, and that problem is that whenever I recite the Quran I always think i have made a mistake and when I pray I forget if I did the 2 sujuud or said salam, and I also mix up in saying al tahiyat and sometimes forget what I said…And even during wudhu I always feel that i keep on breaking wind during wudhu and sometimes I forget if I have washed someparts, for example: sometimes i feel I forgot to wash my hands sometimes my face and so on and all this makes me keep on repeating the wudhu…
This matter has gone to such an extent that during a wudhu, I was trying to think of a way to stop all this, so during that wudhu i said: “I swear on Allah, if i repeat anything during this wudhu, Allah count me as a kafir” and at another time i made up another oath saying:” I swear on Allah, if i repeat the wudhu, Oh Angels jin and shayateen, count me as kaafir”… i thought these oaths will keep me scared from repeating wudhu, so I used the same oaths during prayer to keep me away from repeating the verses of the Quran again and again…It worked well until, at times i repeated the wudhu and at times i repeated the verses, I am scared if this oath has made me a kafir, I’m a pious Muslim and Momin and I pray to and worship Allah everyday , and my heart is strong with Iman.
I am really sad of what I have done, and Swore i won’t do these types of oaths,and again I say I am scared if this oath has made me a kafir, so this is why I try and contact you for an answer to this question, has this oath made me a kafir?
I would be very thankful for an answer.
Jazakum Allahu Khayran.
If possible, could you tell me of a way to stop repeating the wudhu due to the wind break feeling and forgetfullness and a way to stop the forgetfullness in salah and a way to stop the continious repeating of the ayas?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

It makes no sense and it is not prescribed in Islam in any way to expose your religious commitment to the whispers (waswaas) of the Shaytaan so that he may toy with it as he wishes and make you mess about with your religious commitment like someone who is gambling by swearing oaths and making vows. Your religious commitment is too important and too precious for this kind of risky behaviour. Your enemy is lying in wait for you and seeks to instil in your heart his devilish whispers, doubts and bad thoughts, so as to distract you from worship and weaken your commitment to it. And he seeks to instill anxiety and distress in your heart. You have seen how you have ended up with his whispers (waswaas).

The matter is much more straightforward than that. A person’s act of worship cannot be ended or invalidated on the basis of mere uncertainty, let alone the waswaas that is attacking you, that is closer to being a sickness than wellbeing.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was asked: what if a person does wudoo’ and stands to pray, then feels some wetness (such as a drop of urine etc) whilst he is praying. Does that invalidate his prayer or not?

He replied:

Merely feeling something does not invalidate wudoo’ and it is not permissible for him to exit an obligatory prayer on the basis of mere uncertainty. If he is certain that urine has been secreted to the outside of the penis, then his wudoo’ is invalidated and he has to wash himself (istinja’), unless he is suffering from urinary incontinence. But the prayer is not invalidated by a mere feeling, if he has done what is enjoined upon him.

End quote from Majmoo‘ al-Fataawa, 21/219-220

Does the divorce issued by a kaafir judge or the court in a Western country count as talaaq?

I was married for 6 years –a troubelsome marriage but alhamdulillah.my husband was a drug addcit –although i tried to help-nothing changed .situation was unbearable.and for the sake of my children and me .we separated.after two years and no change on his side ,i sought divorse from the courts as he refused to give it.i got fasaq(divorse took place ).its been a few years now.i wanted to know,what that divorse is considered as -is it 1 talaq?things are changing on his side ,i was wondering if i wanted to get back with him,,whats the process,- is it possible to get married again,or not?.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

It is permissible for a woman to ask for divorce (talaaq) if the husband persists in committing immoral actions, such as drinking alcohol or taking drugs. If the husband refuses to give her a divorce, she may refer the matter to the Islamic judge (qaadi) so that he can force the husband to divorce her or he himself can issue a divorce, if the husband refuses to give a divorce. If there is no Islamic judge, she may refer the case to the Islamic authorities in her country, such as the Islamic Centre, so that they can convince the husband to issue a divorce (talaaq) or ask him to let her go by means of khula‘. And it is permissible to have that shar‘i divorce (talaaq) documented after that in the court that is based on the man-made law of the land, because there is a need for that documentation. 

Muslim woman whose kaafir family celebrate her birthday

My parents and two brothers are kufaar (they have no religion) and they insist on making a big deal on my birthday (by phoning me and e-mailing birthday messages and saying ‘happy birthday’) even though I told them many times before that I do not celebrate my birthday and that it is just another day like the other days.
(I am the only Muslim in my family and married to a Muslim and I live in another province in Canada away from them so they are not close to me). This year I unplugged the phone on that day so I could avoid the issue.
What should I do?

Praise be to Allaah.

We congratulate you on your steadfastness in Islam and your avoiding bid’ah and shirk. We ask Allaah to keep you steadfast and to admit you to His Paradise, for He is the All-hearing Who answers prayers.

Strive hard to avoid greetings on the celebrations of the mushrikeen, for this is a kind of resembling them and implies that one approves of their falsehood… It would be a good idea to tell your family why you do not respond to them, so that they will not keep trying to contact you (on that day). And ask Allaah to give you strength. May Allaah help you to do that which He loves and which will earn His pleasure.

And Allaah knows best.

Ruling on buying clothing and other items during kaafir festivals in order to benefit from discounts on prices during the Christmas season

In Australia during christmas there are huge discounts on things like clothing, furniture, electronics etc. is it permisible to shop to get this discount which is generally not available during other part of the year?.

Praise be to Allaah.

There is nothing wrong with buying clothing, furniture and so on during the seasons of kaafir festivals such as Christmas, on condition that one does not buy things that are used to celebrate the festival or to imitate the kuffaar during their festivals.

In the answer to question no. 69558 it was stated that it is permissible for the Muslim to open his business during the days of kaafir festivals, subject to two conditions:

(i)                that he does not sell them things that they use for sinful purposes or to celebrate their festival

(ii)              that he does not sell to Muslims things that they may use to imitate the kuffaar during these festivals.

Buying items that one needs is much less serious than selling or opening one’s business, and the basic principle is that it is permissible to buy things, and the fact that it happens at the time of their festival does not matter.

And Allah knows best.

Ruling on buying a house with riba in a kaafir country

I am a married woman. A while ago my husband work circumstances have improved a lot, Alhamdulillah. Instead of thanking Allah for this favour, may Allah correct him, he insists on buying a house by an interest-based mortgage. He says that many scholars have permitted this for who lives in a non-Muslim country. Shall I ask for divorce, or stay with him while the whole sin in on him? Will I be sinful if I intentionally choose an expensive house so that he feels unable to pay big installments and changes his mind? Please do not neglect this question as it is very important. Shall I ask for divorce or what? Please advise me I am very confused as we have a son.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

It is not permissible to buy a house or anything else by means of riba, whether that is in a Muslim country or non-Muslim country, because of the general meaning of the evidence which forbids riba and curses the one who consumes it and the one who pays it. This is the view of the majority of scholars.

The Hanafis are of the view that it is permissible to take riba from non-Muslims in dar al-harb, and that every contract or transaction that benefits a Muslim is valid so long as it is based on mutual consent and does not involve any kind of deceit or treachery. 

Ruling on taking ribaa from deposit accounts in kaafir banks

My question is regarding to someone’s problem who is very nearly person of mine.The question is that the country where I am from there are some companies they have some monthly income schemes. In which they deposite money as fixed asset and on that they gave monthly profit and there is no change in the deposited amount. I like to know that in the light of Islam is this way of having income is Halal or not and can a widow use this income to support herself and family expenses?

Praise be to Allaah.

A similar question was sent to the Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas (al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah li’l-Buhooth al-‘Ilmiyyah wa’l-Iftaa’). The text of the question was as follows:

Al-Ummah magazine has published a fatwa on financial matters conducted in western countries and in daar al-harb [non-Muslim countries which are in a state of hostility against Islam]. Imaam Abu Haneefah stated that it was permissible to take riba from al-harbiyeen in daar al-harb, and that every contract or transaction which was beneficial to Muslims was valid, so long as it was based on mutual consent and involved no deception or betrayal. If this is true, it would be helpful to some Muslims in France, because the donations that come to us stay in the bank for months before the time comes to use them, and no one benefits from the accumulating interest apart from the bank with which we are dealing. If this fatwa is correct we can make use of the interest paid to us on our money in daar al-harb, and at least give it to the poor and needy, if no one else. And our intention is for the sake of Allaah.

Muslim working as a doctor in the kaafir army

What is the ruling on working as a doctor in the army of the kuffaar who are not in a state of war with the Muslims?

Praise be to Allaah.

We put this question to Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen, may Allaah preserve him, with whom we had a conversation which is summarized below:

Shaykh: “Is this so that he may gain experience, or what?”

– “He is a doctor who is treating their sick, but they are not in a state of war.”

Shaykh: “And they are not at war with the Muslims?”

– “It is possible that they may be at war with the Muslims in the future.”

Shaykh: “We do not give the future precedence over the present (i.e., we do not count on that or take it into consideration).”

Should he work for a company whose boss is a kaafir?

I am a young Muslim man and praise be to Allaah I work in one of the Arab countries, but my boss at work does not pray, and he watches permissive channels and listens to music. I spoke to him about these things one day and he told me that he knows that listening to music is haraam, and so is watching permissive channels. But with regard to prayer he told me that it is just because of laziness and the Shaytaan, and he is trying to deal with it. I offered to help him but he refused, and he is still not praying, and he is still listening to music and watching permissive channels. Is it haraam for me to work with him or is the money I get from working with him haraam? Please advise me.

Praise be to Allaah.

Your earnings and your work have nothing to do with your boss’s situation or his not praying or his listening to music or watching haraam things. You should keep on trying to advise him without getting too close to him, because there is the fear that he may influence you.

You also have to apply the rulings of sharee’ah with regard to your boss, if he continues to neglect prayer – such as not initiating the greeting of salaam with him and not liking him in your heart. We have already discussed a great deal about the rulings on not praying and the fact that it is kufr (disbelief) and riddah (apostasy). 

Accepting a gift from a kaafir

Is it permissible for a Muslim brother to accept a gift from his kaafir or mushrik brother, or not?.

Praise be to Allaah.

It s permissible for a Muslim to accept a gift from his brother even if he is a kaafir or a mushrik, because that will soften his heart and make him more open to being guided to Islam.

And Allaah is the Source of strength.

Well-off people taking things that are only for the poor from a kaafir state

In USA, some Muslims request food stamps -which are assigned to poor people- while they have enough money. They hide their bank accounts information to be eligible for these stamps. When I advised them, they told me that it is not haram because they dont take money from an Islamic country! Is that correct?

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly:

It is not permissible for you to stay in a kaafir country unless you have a valid shar’i reason and fulfil the conditions set out by sharee’ah. These have already been explained several times. Please see Question #12866 and 6154.