Story, - My Bff Aka My Bf

Hi guys , well this story is about this guy that i realy like , he's
my boyfriend at the momment . But i just felt like writing my story
... okay , well im 15 years old . Im in 9th grade . He's 15 also going
on 16 , but he's a 10th grader . but we go to different schools. well
i was 13 years old , in 7th grade. when we met . I met him at the mall
.. one of my guy friends , Jason, intruduced me to him . He told me
that he thought i was cute and stuff .. but i didnt like him like that
. He was waaay shorter than me and chubby (x he would message me on fb
, and i would ignore him . sometimes i would reply cus i felt bad
though . time past and we never talked again , i never seen em at the
mall anymore ... he didnt try talkin to me on fb . nothing .
About 6 months later . i was at the mall and i seen my cousin Jose i
went up to him . He was with a guy .. the guy smiled . "Im taller than
u now" he said. I asked myself who he was .. I went to ma friend laura
and asked her . "isnt dat Angel martinez ????" "Yeah it is !" she told
me .. he changed ALOT . he got taller , skinnier , he was wearing
hollister , skinnies, and a snapback .. [swag fag LOL cx] He looked
WAAAY different . i never noticed his eyes .. he had blueish greenish
eyes . i never even noticed . i felt dumb for not even noticing him .
for ignoring him .. later he started going out with my friend joselyn
.. and i started going out with his friend Diego . We would all talk
on fb i would get on diego's and joselyn would get on angel's and we
would talk and stuff we were all just good friends . me and joselyn
would be like "u guys cute" "u guys cuterr" and stuff . then time
passed and me and diego broke up because he was bogus a'f to me .
Angel told me that i didnt diserve dat . and dat he was bogus . So we
broke up .. after he made a status for no reason saying "i wish i was
single ;" but i realy didntt care cus he would flirt wit other girls .
and he wouldnt even delete his msgs . he would let me see it . and i
would tell em to stop calling girls "babe" "Beautiful" "sexy" ect ..
but he wouldnt listen.
we only lated for like 2 weeks, so then angel and joselyn broke up too
becus joselyn broke up wit him for no reason . right after he gave her
a beanie for christmas ._. i thought that was bogus af doe . they
almost made it to a month .. Me and Angel became like bestfriends doe
.. (: like 3 months later we started flirting and stuff then he told
me he had a crush on me and i told him i did too . He said he had a
crush on me for a while and i told em i liked em before dat .. nobody
knew we were "talking" . except for my friend laura .. and his friends
Jason and Armando... We were scared to tell my cousin Jose since they
were good friends and he was realy protective over me.. but we finally
told em . he got mad and stopped talking to me for like 2 weeks.
in those 2 weeks me and Angel started going out . he asked me out in
person c: we had our first kiss a week before we started going out doe
. but then my cousin jose started talkin to me again and he wasnt mad
nomore . When everyone already found out me and angel were dating they
were all like "aww Angel and Angela , thats cute!" Angel and my ex ,
diego never talked again ;o and neither did me and joselyn but we koo
doe . we just werent dat close anymore .. On valentines day Angel gave
me flowers and a BIG teddy bear ^.^ i got him a hollister shirt and a
teddy bear too with a long letter telling him how much he ment to me
c: we also got matching bracelets .. cx my mom knows about him already
and so does my dad and my 2 older brothers ;o sometimes he comes over
cx and we cuddle ^.^ sometimes we argue but we can never stay mad at
eachother .. we broke up at one point for like 5 mins . he was realy
mad at me but we worked it out . he gets jelous alot but is all good
lol . Well we've been going out for like .. 6 months .. and theres
more years to go , i realy like him alot . i love being with him . but
i hate that i only get to see him every weekend ; but we work it out
C: my parents love him lol . well yeah dats my story guys cx thanx for
reading (: -Angela

Fathwa, - Concerning the standard explanation of the verse of hijab

Question:
Assalamu alaikum,
I wanted to get clarification on the explanation Sh. Nuh gave on the
evidence for hijab. This has been a topic of debate since the hijab
ban discussion in France and I'm unclear now on where the requirement
comes from.
Sh. Nuh writes:
'There is no other lexical sense in which the word khimar may be
construed. The wording of the command, however, and let them drape
their headcoverings over their bosoms, sometimes confuses
nonspecialists in the sciences of the Qur'an, and in truth,
interpreting the Qur'an does sometimes require in-depth knowledge of
the historical circumstances in which the various verses were
revealed. In this instance, the elliptical form of the divine command
is because women at the time of the revelation wore their headcovers
tied back behind their necks, as some village women still do in Muslim
countries, leaving the front of the neck bare, as well as the opening
(Ar. singular jayb, plural juyub, translated as "bosoms" in the above
verse) at the top of the dress. The Islamic revelation confirmed the
practice of covering the head, understood from the use of the word
khimar in the verse, but also explained that the custom of the time
was not sufficient and that women were henceforth to tie the headcover
in front and let it drape down to conceal the throat and the dress's
opening at the top.'
I'm a bit confused about how the wording used in these particular
verses are considered to be a command. My earlier understanding of the
evidence for hijab was that the specificity of the command came from
the hadith in Abu Dawood about the Prophet (AS) pointing out to Asma
that only the face and hands should be revealed. Can you please
clarify what it is about the wording/grammar in the verses reference
above that makes them the evidence for the fard status for hijab? I'm
not clear how the word "khimar" in and of itself is used as evidence
to say that hijab is required.
Answer:
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
Praise be to Allah. May Allah's peace and blessings shower upon our
beloved Messenger.
Dear Sister,
The obligation of hijab is evident when we examine the grammatical
structure of this verse.
The verse reads:
وَقُل لِّلْمُؤْمِنَاتِ يَغْضُضْنَ مِنْ أَبْصَارِهِنَّ
وَيَحْفَظْنَ فُرُوجَهُنَّ
وَلاَ يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلاَّ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا
وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى جُيُوبِهِنَّ
The translation:
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and
guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and
ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they
should draw their veils over their bosoms..." [Abdullah Yusuf Ali]
The style of the language employed in the verse is very important.
Allah Most High begins with the imperative form of the verb "qalla,"
which means to say or tell. Thus, Allah Most High is commanding the
Prophet, peace be upon him, to tell the believing women to take a
series of steps:
1. To guard their gaze, which is an important factor in modest interaction;
2. To guard their chastity or sexuality;
3. To conceal their adornment and natural beauty, which scholars have
interpreted to mean the whole body except for the face, hands, and
(for Hanafis) the feet.
4. And, finally, to emphasize the above point, Allah Ta'ala uses the
phrase, "wa-lyadhribna bikhumurihinna ala juyubihinna." The verb
"yadhribna" which means "to draw or pull over" appears as a feminine
plural, thus going back to the original subject of the verse, the
believing women. Most importantly, it starts off with the letter
"lam," which is called "lam al-amr." Lam al-amr, when prefixed to a
present tense verb, such as "yadhribna," makes the verb an imperative,
that is, a command. It is not understood as a recommendation, but a
specific command directly from Allah Most High to His slaves among the
believing women.
Lam al-amr is used in other imperative contexts in the Qur'an. For
example, Allah Ta'ala says, "Let the man of means spend according to
his means: and the man whose resources are restricted, let him spend
according to what God has given him..." [Al-Talaq, 65:7]
The Arabic reads:
لِيُنفِقْ ذُو سَعَةٍ مِّن سَعَتِهِ
وَمَن قُدِرَ عَلَيْهِ رِزْقُهُ فَلْيُنفِقْ مِمَّآ ءَاتَاهُ اللَّهُ لاَ
يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْساً إِلاَّ مَآ ءَاتَاهَا
Here, Allah Most High is commanding men to spend according to their
means in the context of child support for divorced wives.
This is understood to be a command, not a recommendation, since men
are required to support their children. The lam of command, or lam
al-amr, once again appears prefixed to the present verb, "yunfiq,"
meaning "to spend." [Qatr al-Nada, Dar al-Asmaa, 96]
To return to the verse in question, the phrase "wa-lyadhribna
bikhumurihinna ala juyubihinna," is a command for women to draw their
veils over their bosoms. Allah Most High did not say, "And tell the
believing women to put on their veils," because implicit in the verse
is the understanding that women were already expected to veil.
However, unlike the practice at the time of leaving the scarf hanging
down the back with the neck and cleavage exposed, Muslim women were to
take it one step further and draw the "khimar" or veil over the neck
and cleavage area. Those who argue that the Qur'an says nothing about
veiling are completely misreading this verse. Not only does the
Qur'anic text make it clear that women are expected to veil, it also
dictates the extent of the veiling, i.e., covering the neck and
cleavage.
This point is elucidated by reports from Aisha, may Allah be pleased
with her, and other women of the Sahaba, who immediately implemented
this verse by tearing up pieces of cloth and covering their hair and
bodies. Al-Bukhari recorded that Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her,
said: "May Allah have mercy on the women of the early emigrants. When
Allah revealed the verse:[وَلْيَضْرِبْنَ بِخُمُرِهِنَّ عَلَى
جُيُوبِهِنَّ]
(and to draw their veils over their bosoms), they tore their aprons
and veiled themselves [made khimars] with them.'' [Tafsir Ibn Kathir]
The actions of the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with them all, did not
indicate that hijab was optional. I find it interesting that hijab was
not legislated in stages, as opposed to the ban on intoxicants. When
the verses in Surat al-Nur were revealed, the female Sahaba
immediately covered themselves. Would that we had a fraction of their
iman!
And Allah knows best.

Fathwa, - Can I pray with makeup on

Question:
Can women wear makeup after wudu and then pray?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
You can pray with make-up on if you are sure that it is pure. Since
some make-up products contain impurities, you need to make sure that
the one you put on does not contain any impure ingredients.
And Allah Most High knows best.

Fathwa, - Is it permissible to use the nail whitener pencil?

Question:
Is it permissible to use a nail whitener pencil on the inside bit of
the nail to make the tips of the nails look whiter?
Answer:
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
It seems as if most pencil whiteners leave a barrier such that one''s
ablution is not valid if made after using it.
Note that it is reprehensible to let the nails grow long (Al-Durr
al-Mukhtar 5:260) even if it is done for one''s husband.
And Allah Most High knows best.