zarishlodhi asked: Assalam-o-alaikum. :) I was wondering if you could kindly tell me if human organ transplantation is allowed in Islam. It is afterall a widely practiced way of saving lives or increasing the quality of life for those who need it. But it also contradicts with the Islamic idea that the dead body must not be mutilated in any way. Please help? I'd really like to know. Thank you! And jazakAllah khair.

Wa alykum as-salaam,

Organ donation and transplants are a medical necessity, and when it  comes to issues of medical necessity, we are—automatically—not dealing with a normal issue.

If someone is bleeding to death from a vein that is in their thighs, and they are of the opposite gender, does that mean you prevent yourself from squeezing the wound to prevent bleeding because Muslims should not be touching people of the opposite gender in intimate places? Of course not, because their life is in danger, and that is more important.

Organ transplants, therefore, are very similar as the above example.

For a more detailed answers on this question please click this link, insha Allah.

I pray this reaches you and your families in the best of health and Iman, insha Allah.

Osama

honeybeekhairy asked: Salam. "Don judge others just bcos u sin diff than them", does that mean we dont have the right to advise/point out ppl their sins just because we sin too only differently? My fren used that against me once and im not whether i shud do it again?

Wa alykum as-salaam,

There is a difference between judging and advising, this is the central issue we must understand in order to make sense of the phrase you quoted.

As Muslims we must advise others towards what is the good, but there is a proper way to do this. While there are many amazing lectures on this issue, the general idea is that we should advise people in private, with kind words, and with understanding, but most importantly, we should have evidence as to why we are giving this advice.

Judging is a different process, judging is the idea that you are superior to another. Truly, only God knows who is superior, for we not only see other in a way that is limited by our perception, but we also look at ourselves in a way that pleases our Nafs (ego).

Why is this important?

I will justify my sins, in my head. “Oh, well, that person said something very offensive, so I can talk bad about them, I can backbite them.” Or, “this person isn’t honest with me, so I’m not going to be honest with them.”

This is how we allow our egos to justify sins, and when we judge others, we open ourselves to this place where we determine who deserves our respect and adab (manners) as Muslims, but, the irony is that by doing this, we have violated the command of God, where there are no exceptions as to who we extend our Islam.

Whether you are in the middle of a war or dealing with your best friend, your Islam requires that you act in a proper way, and to judge someone is to open up the doorway for you to violate the command of God.

When we judge another person, we judge them based upon what is easy for us and what is difficult for them; we get a skewed view, we don’t see their efforts, we don’t see if they repent, and so when we judge, we are judging based on our perception, on our view of things and we ignore our own faults, because if we acknowledged our sins, truly repented for them, we would be silent when another person is mentioned unless it is to say a good thing.

The Qur’an says:

“O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] - for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one another, and neither allow yourselves to speak ill of one another behind your backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would loathe it! And be conscious of God. Verily, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace!” [49:12] Muhammad Asad

Thus, we must avoid thinking about another person’s sins in such a way that allows us to look at them as lower than us. We must recognize that our origin is lowly, for The Qur’an reminds us of where we come from:

“Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created—created man out of a germ-cell!” [96:1-2] Muhammad Asad

This origin of man, from a simple cell, is to underline that our egos are capable of forming a reality that is not true, that does not reflect the truth, and that when we get into the habit of judging others, we forget our humility, and we forget that those who sin may repent, and that the sins we notice in others should only bring about humility in ourselves, it should give us an opportunity to advise others (politely), and to remind ourselves that we do avoid sin for our benefit.

The Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad the following:

“Teach and make things easy and not difficult. When one of you is angry, he should be silent.”

We should learn that when we give advice, we should ensure that people see the ease of Islam, and realize that any negative emotion, like anger (which is mentioned above) is a result of our ego (Nafs) growing. So, if we are angry, if we are very sad, if we are judging others, we have put our ego at the front, so, we should strive to remove our Nafs (ego) from the equation and when we do that, we can advise people properly. 

Echoing what The Prophet had to say, Ali ibn Abu Talib is reported in Zamakhshari’s Rabi Al-Abraar the following:

“Fear the sins that you commit in secret, because the Witness of those sins is the Judge Himself.”

When we sin, and treating someone with excessive suspicion is a sin as we saw in The Qur’an [49:12], especially when we do so in secret, we open ourselves up to corruption of ourselves, but most importantly, we are now dealing directly with God, and when we forget that, we open up the doors for larger sins because we have forgotten that we are being watched, at all times, by Almighty God.

Thus, do not fear offering advise to anyone, but do not forget that they may repent, that they may be better than you, and offer advise in the proper way, which is in private, to prevent embarrassment, and to ensure your intentions are pure. The idea that we may make mistakes should not prevent you from offering advice, which Sheikh El Shaarawy explains here, but it should bring you modesty to your soul when you deal with other people.

I hope this helped, insha Allah.

I pray this reaches you and your families in the best of health and Iman, insha Allah.

Osama

Haj Hassanain Rajabali - “The Value of the Human Soul”

ithinkiknowyou asked: Salaams, Could you please submit a step by step post on how to perform taubah (repentance)? Because I'm not too sure whether you do it as a normal prayer or it has different steps to it. And it'd be nice to include other advice and tips on taubah. It'd truly benefit your followers, insyaAllah.

Salaam!

Click

artificiallyme asked: I'm not sure if this is somewhere I can ask, but I'm in the middle of trying to convert to Islam from Christianity. And I can hold my ground in beliefs (mostly about Jesus being a prophet instead of God) but today I walked into an evangelist and just to get rid of him I said "yeah I'm Christian". I feel like I failed a test. It's almost hard to admit that I'm not Christian, mostly because I'm asian and most people I know are Christian. I feel like this is the last barrier I need to get over.

Peace and many blessings,

You know what both the Quran and Bible say about Jesus Christ? Both Holy Books say he was a peacemaker.

And you know what the Arabic term Muslim translates to? A peacemaker.

If someone asks you about how you religiously affiliate yourself, simply say, I am a peacemaker like my Christ and my Muhammad, and I am a lover of God.

— Dee. 

one-only-islam asked: Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. First off, I'd like to say your blog is very inspiring and please keep it up insyaAllah. Second of all, I'd like to ask you about a topic that I seldom come across. Eating disorders (Anorexia/Bulimia) in Islam. What are the methods to avoid or how can we overcome this illness? Any duas to fight off the evil voices leading us to this evil path? Thank you. :))

Peace and many many blessings,

Personally, I think this is one of the most important questions that we have ever received. May Allah bless you immensely for this.

God bless you! — Dee. 

noureddine7 asked: Assalamualeikum, i have a question: Why do u say (as) after imam Ali ibn abi talib? He just was a companion of the prophet Mohammed salla allahu alayhi wa sallam. It should be (ra) radiallahoe a3nhoe

Peace and many blessings,

Only Allah knows the true status of a personality, but some Muslims find purpose in measuring the nobility of a personality related to the Prophet — presenting it a part of their theological belief — in order to recognize the persons who have sacrificed immensely for the sake of God. 

While some Muslims might believe that Imam Ali ibn abi Talib was merely a companion of Muhammad, other Muslims believe that he was presented a very holy status in the religion of Islam by Allah; Muslims with both beliefs have their historical, theological, and narrative justifications for proving their point, but at the end of the day, whatever our opinion is, it is up to us to respect each other’s positions.

In terms of the Arabic definition of both (RA) and (AS), alayhi salam literally translates to: peace is with him. RadhiyaAllah anh translates as: may Ridha (content or pleasure) of Allah be upon him (who is spoken of). One seems to highlight the fact that peace is with the person spoken of while the other is like that of a supplication, or dua, for the personality. Personally, they are both lovely attributes.

Peace. — Dee. 

The North American Islamic Shelter for Abused (NISA): Donate to a good cause! ›

imsomeanimakemedicinesick-deact asked: As-salamu alaykum! What do Muslims think about Jesus Christ? Thank you for your answer!

Peace and many blessings,

• Christ was a beloved and noble servant of God
• Christ was an extremely pious Prophet of God
• Christ was provided with numerous miracles (by God’s Grace), like healing the sick. 
• Mary, the mother of Christ, was a pious and noble woman who is considered to be one of the greatest women of the world(s). 

Find an ontology of Jesus Christ here. 

Ramadan during pilgrimage to Mecca; it’s all about feasting together as well as providing shelter, comfort, and food to those who are in need [flickr]

a father and his son [flickr]

Depending on Allah [This tweet / Our Twitter] 

Motivation boost [This tweet / Our Twitter] 

Subhan’Allah [This tweet/ Our Twitter]