Allah First

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Allah first, glorified and exalted be He. Not career, money, savings,
stocks, investments, 401K, IRA. Allah first. Not family, because we
cannot serve our families wellunless we serve Allah first. Not
culture, nationality, "race", caste, tribe, clan, lineage, social
status (all of which are utterly meaningless).
Allah first. Not material, shopping, sales – people get up early for a
sale but can't wake up for Allah – smart phone, internet, computer.
Allah, Allah, Allah first. Not movies, shows, fake celebrities who are
worshiped like idols. Not sports teams, city, school, neighborhood.
Only when we put Allah first can we stay that we have understood "Laa
ilaha il-Allah" (there is no God but Allah) – this simple sentence and
testimony of faith, over which Prophets have been killed, believers
persecuted, and which has been so little understood even by Muslims.
This Laa ilaha il-Allah was the call of every Prophet and Messenger
from time immemorial. Allah says about it, "…and know that Laa ilaaha
ill Allah (there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah)…" [Quran
47:19, 20:8, 3:18, 59:22-3]
And Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri said, that the Messenger of Allah (S) said:
"Moses (AS) said: 'O Lord! Teach me something that I can remember You
with and I can supplicate You with'. He (Allah Ta'ala) said: 'Say 'Laa
ilaaha ill Allah', O Musaa'. He (Musaa) said: 'All of your servants
say this'. He (Allah) said: 'If the seven Heavens and those who dwell
in them other than Me and the seven Earths are put into one pan (ofthe
scale) and 'Laa ilaaha ill Allaah' is put into the other; 'Laa ilaaha
ill Allah' would be heavier.'" [Ibn Hibbaan and Haakim]
Laa ilaha il-Allah is the stuff oflegends. It is the calling card of
the Eternal Prime Mover. It has rights over us. It's a contract, an
oath, a promise tolove Allah before the people, fear Allah more than
the people, and to ask ourselves in every situation, "What doesAllah
want me to do here?" It's a vow to trust Allah beforethe people, call
upon Allah in times of hardship, thank Allah in times of plenty, and
know in our bones that our return is to Him.

It is haraam for a man toshake hands with a non-mahram woman in the Maaliki madhhab

I want to know in what reference it says that Imam Maalik forbade a
man to shake hands with a non-mahram woman.
There is an opinion which says that there are four possible scenarios,
and in only one is it regarded as haraam for a man to shake hands with
a non-mahram woman. These four scenarios are: when the one who is
shaking hands does it for the sake of pleasure and finds pleasure in
it; when he does it for the sake of pleasure but does not find
pleasure in it; when he does not do it for the sake of pleasure but
finds pleasure in it; and when he does not do it for the sake of
pleasure and does not find pleasure in it.
Who is the author of this opinion? Does he belong to the Maaliki madhhab?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
In Mukhtasar al-Akhdari and other Maaliki books there is an indication
that it is haraam to shake hands with a non-mahramwoman according to
the madhhab of Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him).
'Aleesh said in Minah al-Jaleel Sharh Mukhtasar Khaleel (1/22): It is
not permissible for a man to touch the face or hand of anon-mahram
woman, and it is not permissible for them to put their hands together
without a barrier.'Aa'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) said:
TheProphet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) never accepted
the oath of allegiance (bay'ah)of a woman by holding her hand; he
would acceptwomen's oath of allegiance verbally. According to another
report: His hand never touched the hand of a woman; rather he would
accept their oath of allegiance verbally. End quote.
Secondly:
The details that you mentioned have to do with losing wudoo' by
touching; wudoo' is broken in the event of seeking pleasure, or
finding pleasure (even if he was not seeking it), or seeking it and
finding it. Wudoo' is not broken when one does not seek pleasure or
find it.
The prohibition is connected to doing it deliberately, whether there
is pleasure or not.
For more information please see the answer to question no. 21183 and 2459
And Allah knows best.

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Child marriage in Islam is subject to the condition that it serve a clear and real interest

From my understanding, Islamic Law states that if agirl passes
puberty, she is allowed to be married - regardless of whether she is
9, 11, 15 etc Does the law take into consideration her emotional and
mental readiness to be married, despite the physical abilityto be able
to bear children? It disturbs me that young girls who pass puberty are
automatically believed to be whole-heartedly ready for marriage and
motherhoodJUST because she is physically able to do so. Isnt it
equally important that she is emotionally and mentality ready for this
role?
Also - does Islamic Law also state that if a boy passes puberty
(regardlessof his age), he is ALSO allowed to be married?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
It is permissible for a man to arrange a marriage for his young son
even if he has not reached puberty; it is also permissible for him to
arrange a marriagefor his young daughter even if she had not reached
the age of puberty. It was narrated that there was consensus on this
point, but that is provided that compatibility is taken into account
and that a clear and real interest is served by this marriage.
Ibn 'Abd al-Barr (may Allahhave mercy on him) said:
The scholars are unanimously agreed that the father may arrange a
marriage for his young daughter without consulting her. The Messenger
of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) married 'Aa'ishah
when she was six years old.
End quote from at-Tamheed, 19/98
Ismaa'eel ibn Ishaaq (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The father may arrange a marriage for a young (daughter) according to
the consensus of the Muslims, and that is binding on her.
End quote from at-Tamheed, 19/84
Ibn Shubrumah disagreed with that, as we shall see below.
Secondly:
It is not prescribed to arrange a marriage for a young girl unless
there is aclear and real interest to be served by doing so. Thesame
applies to young boys, but the ruling is emphasized more with regard
to girls because a boy has the power of divorce (talaaq).
An-Nawawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
It should be noted that ash-Shaafa'i and his companions said: It is
recommended for the father or grandfather not to arrange a marriage
for a virgin until she reaches the age of puberty and he seeks her
consent, lest she find herself trapped in a marriage that she resents.
What they said is not contrary to the hadeeth of'Aa'ishah, because
what they meant is that he should not give her in marriage before
puberty ifthere is no clear and real interest to be served by that for
which there is the fear that it will be missed by delaying marriage,
suchas the story of 'Aa'ishah. Inthat case (i.e., if there is a clear
and real interest to be served) it is recommended not to miss the
opportunity to marry that husband, because the father is enjoined to
take care of his children's interests, not to neglect them.
End quote from Sharh Muslim, 9/206
Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) was of the view
that in the case of a girl who has reached the age of nine years it is
stipulated that she give consent and he said: This is the view
favoured by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah, and this is the correct
view.
With regard to the girl who is younger than the age of nine years, he
favoured the view that thefather does not have the right to arrange a
marriage. He narrated from Ibn Shubrumah (mayAllah have mercy on him)
that he said: It is not permissible to arrange a marriage for a young
girl who has not reached the age of puberty, because if we say that
that is subject to her consent, her consent does not count (because
she is too young to make such decisions), and when she does reach the
age of puberty we believe that she should not be forced into a
marriage. The Shaykh said:This view is the correct one, that the
father shouldnot arrange a marriage forhis daughter until she reaches
the age of puberty, and when she reaches the age of pubertyhe should
not arrange a marriage unless she gives her consent.
But if we assume that a man regards this suitor as compatible and he
is old, and there is the fear that ifhe passes away and guardianship
of the girl passes to her brothers, they may not take the matter of
her marriage seriously and they may arrange her marriage according to
their whims and desires, not according to what is in her best
interests, and he thinks that it is in her best interests to arrange
her marriage to someone whois compatible, there is nothing wrong with
that, but she will have the choice when she grows up; if she wishes
she may say: I do not agree to this and I do not want it.
If the matter is like this, then the safest option is not to arrange
her marriage and to entrust her to Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted.

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I have cheated on my boyfriend, how can I get him back?

Assalaamu alaikum brother/sister,
I'm an international student in a university, I was in a relationship
with a guy for seven years when I was living back home; by that time
we also committed zina. We decided we would come abroad for higher
studies and live together here. Butsomehow he didn't get hisvisa but I
did and I came here because my parents put in too much money for this.
After I came here things started to get bad, he got into a depression
state and was jealous of me coming abroad, he used toconstantly hurt
me and berude and it eventually made me fed up of him and we had a
fight and didn't talk for 20 days.
By that time I met this new guy who was a very good person, always
prayed Salaah and motivated me to do so. Hegave me idea of hijaab and
I started wearing it. He basically introduced meto Allah's mercy a lot
morethan I knew previously. I fell in love with him and we kissed
which was only a spur of the moment. I wanted a person like him to be
my husband who will guide me through Allah's path and I will do the
same for him.
I was afraid to tell him that I committed zina withmy previous bf but
I told him I was in an abusive relationship (which was true). Somehow
my ex knew about this and he contacted my new bf and he told
everything about us.
However, I tried to manage things and we were in a good place with our
relationship and even decided to get married as Ihave also committed
zina with him. But I got dragged again with my previous bf and cheated
on my new bf a number oftimes. I went back home last year and I met my
ex, which my new bf got to know about. So now he hates me too much but
I fell in love with him. I'm trying to repent to Allah but whenever I
ask myselfwhy did I cheat? I get no answer from my heart.
I feel very guilty for mynew bf because he always supported no matter
how much it hurts him. I still want to get married to him but he hates
me too much as well as his family (who knew of my wrongdoings too). I
also feel ashamed to post this here, but I have no other option to
seek advice fromsomeone in an Islamic perspective. Can you please
advise me on what to do?
Thank you,
- Nafisa

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