Day Questions

In Shia Islam, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) combined the Maghrib and Isha prayers without any reason, and the Shias follow this Sunnah of him. However, in Sunni Islam, one of the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) states that whoever combines two prayers without a valid reason he will enter the gate of major sin. How can this be justified?

One could understand from some of the narrations of the Ahlubait (peace be upon them), that there are two types of prayers time; one describes the time during which one can usually offers the prayers, the other is the best time to offer them. This suggests that it is permissible to join between Dhuhr and Asr prayers and between Maghrib and Isha prayers. The verdicts of the Shia jurists reflect the same, since Shias rely on the teaching of the Imams of the Ahlulbait (peace be upon them), and the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) ordered Muslims to do the same when he said: "I am leaving amongst you the two weighty things: the Book of Allah and my household, my progeny". This narration is reported in many famous Sunni books. On the other hand, it is reported in many famous Sunni books that Ibn Abbas narrated that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) used to join between the two prayers when he was not traveling, and it was not raining. Ibn Abbas himself explained the wisdom behind the Prophet’s act: making the prayers an easier task for the Muslims. From this, one can conclude that the narrations that indicate the prohibition of joining between prayers are unreliable and one cannot depend on them.

If someone is reciting Quran in front of me, am I allowed to speak? Does it make a difference if the recitation is not live, but is a recording?

We have been ordered in some narrations to listen to whoever recites Quran. This does not include recorded recitations.

His Eminence has stated that music which causes rapture or enjoyment is prohibited. However what about sad music that doesn't bring about enjoyment, but instead sheds tears?

What we mean by rapture is the effect of the music on the soul and its reaction to it whether it result in happiness, enjoyment or sorrow.

Seeing that the significance behind the iddah period is so that the father can be identified adequately if the woman becomes pregnant, and contraception almost eliminates the chances of pregnancy, is there any need of the iddah period when using contraception?

The reason behind the waiting period is not necessarily identifying the father if the woman is pregnant. If this was the reason, then it would have been sufficient for Almighty Allah the Divine Legislator to consider one menstrual cycle as a waiting period and not any longer duration. Almighty Allah knows the actual reason behind such legislation. Therefore, the iddah must be observed even if contraception was used.

News Archive