Day Questions

What kind of things can the dowry (mahr) be in an Islamic marriage?

Anything that has a value and is permissible to earn from, by selling or leasing for instance, can be set as dowry, even if it is a little. It can be a tangible item, or a debt that is becomes liable for, or a service, such as to sew a garment or recite the Quran. As for those things which are not permissible to make one’s earning by, such as musical instruments or pigs, it is not permissible to make them the dowry.

For someone with a flatulence problem, where he cannot control the excess passing of gas, he is told to perform the wudhu for every prayer. Is this still the case if he prays Isha right after Maghrib, or Asr right after Dhuhr?

If he joins between the two prayers as in the question, he does not need to repeat the wudhu. If he separated between the prayers, he should do the wudhu again before the second prayer.

I have been working and I was not able to make any savings from my earning, except that in the month of Dhil-Qa’dah I saved some money and I anticipate saving some money the following months too. Will I pay my religious dues for the Islamic year (Muharram-Dhil-Hijjah) even if I only just started to save some money, or will I pay them when a year passes from obtaining the savings (i.e. next Dhil-Qa’dah)?

If the beginning of Muharram is the first day of your khums fiscal year then khums is payable at the end of Dhil-Hijjah, even if you started saving in Dhil-Qa’dah and did not save anything before that. The khums fiscal year begins when one gains any money in his life, even when he was a child. If you know that day then this is when you pay khums on any profit that remains unspent, even if you received the money days before this date. If you do not know that day exactly, then you should refer to the religious authority, i.e. the marja that you follow or his agents, to determine a day to be the start of your khums fiscal year.

According to Islamic law can the father of the girl that one wants to marry refuse to give his consent and blessing purely based on the fact that one was not born a Muslim or came from a different ethnic background to them?

It is obligatory on the father of the girl or her paternal grandfather to guard her welfare in accepting the marriage or refusing it. If the guardian in this case sees that the best interests of his daughter is not to marry this person, then he is permitted to refuse.

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