The World Of Soul

Questions and answers

Question: My family lives in Russia, but we can leave for any other Muslim country. Won’t it be better for our children and for our faith to leave? Fatima.

Answer: We often think that ‘the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence’. A believer’s attitude to life is slightly different. Islam is not a religion of separate nations or countries. It is a system of life including worldly and eternal values. This system helps people on a uniform basis, no matter whether they are lazy or hard-working, sluggish or full of energy, whether they are immature or bright personalities. Every country has its merits and demerits.

 In my opinion it is of major importance to be able to overcome one’s disadvantages, idleness, selfishness and to define one’s life values and purposes and to struggle to achieve them.

 If the companions of Prophet Mohammed (may Allah bless him!), while confining themselves to the alleged logic of aspiration for piety, had retired to villages, Islam would have never crossed the borders of the Arabian Peninsula. Within several decades since the beginning of the formation of Islam God’s Sermon reached all civilisations of the époque and took root everywhere in the Earth. Despite the fact that the Muslim community suffered all kinds of stresses and depressions, as well as that it endured the cruelty and savageness of Mongols and crusaders, Muslims account for billions of people and live everywhere in the world. Every Muslim bears a grain of faith in the Unique and Eternal Lord of the world.

Take into consideration the most various aspects and consequences, especially as Russia is our centuries-old motherland, whereas any other country is a foreign land to us. Although, of course, ‘no pains, no gains’.

 To strengthen faith, you can visit two sacred mosques – those of Mecca and Medina.

 As for your children and  all Muslims at large, the quality and the level of education (both for us and for our children) appears to be of essential significance, from my point of view. For this sake man (in the name of the Almighty) must go even to the back of beyond.

 Rumi has noted: “The Most High imposes heat and cold, grief and pain, fear and frailty of our wealth and bodies on us. All this (as well as all the rest) is done in order that the grain of our inmost essence reveals itself".

 

Question: I know a lot about religion, but my faith is weak. I live in Europe. There are many Muslims here.

And I try to commune with them from time to time, but my faith is still extremely weak. I fear that I may do something wrong, I am on the brink of sin. I believe in Allah profoundly, but there is something inside of me that hinders me a lot. And I am afraid that this will gain the upper hand over my will.

Answer: You should read a lot, be educated, study, work hard and pray. You are not a child any more and you do not need any longer to be told what to do.

 Spiritual inspiration is not stable. It can appear at certain intervals, whereas faith is always present and immutable (on the mercy of the Most High).

 Moreover, self-improvement is a continuous process. It is useful to follow this path and enjoy it and not burden oneself with useless thoughts or reflections.

 

Question: The Qur’an and many Hadith emphasize the importance of good deeds, for example, if somebody repents and then performs good deeds, or if somebody performs a good deed in order to repent a sin etc. Good deeds are in giving alms and in helping the poor. But what should people do if they do not have such financial means, although they would like to help both themselves and the others? Do any reliable Hadith comprise any indications as to what deeds can be considered good, also during appointed period, for example, in the first ten days of Zul-Hijjah?

Answer: A good word is already a charity. This is mentioned both in an ayah[1] and in reliable Hadith[2]. There is no need in waiting for the wages or any other material revenue in order to perform good deeds.

 

 Life is versatile and the degree of its richness in welfare and happiness (the changes to the better even within the scale of the whole country) depends on our education, perseverance, steadfastness in following neither pseudo pious calls, nor quasidemocratic mottos of time-serving or pride, but preserving traditional standards of morality, common to all mankind, when all people, however different and aloof they may be, occupied with their own activities, would consolidate, revealing the proper sense of the word mankind!

 It is important to move forward regardless of any overt information storms in a tea-cup, labelled as “the world’s greatest threat".

 

Question: Comment, please, on the 11^th ayah of the 13^th sura and adduce, if possible, the right translation of this ayah.G.

Answer: Here follows the translation of the sense of the ayah: "He has [that is every man] in front of him and behind him the guarding angels who replace each other. [angels of the day shift replace the angels of the night shift, that is there is a particular number of the angels who guard man on the day, and there are the angels who replace the former at night]. They [the angels] guard him [man] on the order of Allah, (on the order of the Lord of the world, the Creator of the heavens and the earth). [Moreover the presence of the angels does not depend on whether man is a believer or an unbeliever. Every man, that comes to the Earth, is entitled to the blessings from the Creator and is guarded by Him in accordance with the God’s intentions and the wisdom of the Lord of the world. It is worth mentioning that if the Almighty Allah ordained a trouble for a certain man, for example as a punishment or a testing, that are bound to overtake him, the guarding angels yield to the God’s order].

 The Most High will not change the life of people, unless they change themselves. [Man becomes worthy of the Lord’s mercy and grace, through changing his inner world and through overt manifestations of these changes to the better. Whereas if man commits crimes and sins and falls into internal decay, he exposes himself thus to a if not swift, but an inescapable chastisement. Such are the laws, that are enacted on the Earth on the will of the Creator]. And if God wills evil (to come) [in the form of various crises, natural disasters, individual troubles, etc.] none can ward it off. They (people) have no other guardian or tutor besides Him (the Creator of the world) [there is no other instance, that would be superior to the Lord’s orders]".[3]

 

Question: My life is crowded with information that undermines my faith into the Most High. At first I thought that it was all vain and that there were serious grounds for it, but... May the Most High forgive me, I began to doubt. It is no use justifying myself. I have come to a terrible conclusion, may Allah forgive me! In my opinion, there is no devil, satan, etc., I believe that God in His nature has no limits in terms of evil and good, that is He is both evil and good. I hope you will understand what I’m writing about. I beg you either to argue my statement or to give such an answer, that would help me further on to estimate properly all that false information, that I will happen to face. Chris.

Answer: Take care of your state of mind. You should stop this nonsense; otherwise you are running the risk to get to hospital. There were similar cases in my practice. Some people take it hard to find a way out of such psychological deadlock they have driven themselves into. You should just work, study and live.

 

Question: I am a Muslim. I would read and reread the Qur’an rather often, but every time I try to adjust the ayah of the Qur’an to my everyday life, I begin to doubt... Certainly, it is not a matter of the fortitude of our faith, but of how we manage to transpose the laws of the Qur’an into modern life. For example, there are such kinds of sport as figure-skating or artistic gymnastics. It is difficult to imagine that Alina Kabayeva will perform in the clothes complying with the laws of Sharia. Or, for example, if the Qur’an says nothing about heroin or cocaine, it does not mean to say, of course, that people are allowed to take them, following the principle “what is not prohibited, is allowed". It is hard to imagine that my neighbour will burn in Hell eternally, because she does not perform Namaz, for this elderly woman is always ready to offer her help. Even the cruellest executioners in history came to sympathize with their victims soon after the beginning of the execution. Will the Most High with His mercy and love for His creatures expose the sinful to a stern punishment for eternity, if they have committed sins during only 50–60 years of their lives? I know some people who sometimes drink alcohol, but they have brought so much good for people around, that I sometimes think, whether they are the future dwellers of Hell too? Recently I have seen the performance of a jazz musician from the USA. This man does not profess Islam, but his concerts inspire people and make them want to live and to perform good deeds. Our life is far richer and far more interesting than many Muslims imagine. They see too much sinful in it. Please, help me to clarify these issues. What is your opinion on it? Ismael.

Answer: Your reflections are reasonable. The main point is the presence of at least a grain of faith in the heart of a man. It is also extremely important to strive for the noble, righteous and positive; religious practice and the ability to repent sincerely, if committed a sin (every man can take a false step or commit a sin), and the aspiration not to make the same mistake again are of great significance as well.

 A believer may not wear the judge’s gown in order to judge other people. The true Judge is He who begot life with all its beauties, obligations and certain prohibitions, and it is He who will take it away at a certain moment for the sake of future resurrection (on the Day of Doom) and report (by everyone) on their deeds and actions. Allah is All-powerful.

 A believer calls on other people to his faith first of all through his actions, behaviour, good manners, that is through his personal example, as well as through his achievements and personal successes that would be senseless and unachievable without his faith.

 

Question: Sometimes I feel a strong desire to quote the words of Prophet Moses or Aaron, peace be upon them: “God, do not let me be a temptation for the unbelievers or (the unjust)!" I do not want to give rise to unfavourable criticism against Islam. It is not because I set a bad example to others or anything of the kind, but for some people I still remain the reason, and they believe everything that they hear about Islam. Moreover they do not even want to accept anything that goes beyond their understanding, knowledge or worldview. What should I do? No matter what I do, I am always guilty in other people’s eyes. Some of my relatives unfailingly try to ‘SAVE’ me, as they put it, from fanaticism and darkness, they even resort to blackmail. Please, help me. How should I behave in this situation?

Answer: I do not know you personally, that is why I cannot give you any definite piece of advice. Why are they trying to blackmail you or to ‘SAVE’ you? May be you have really gone to certain extremes? Do you work or study? Do you study well? Why do people around display their negative emotions upon you and forget about good manners and freedom of expression and differences in opinion? Do you reproach them with anything? Do you ever underline that you are somebody ‘special’, while they are bound to burn in Hell?

 In my opinion, we should search for the reasons of such attitude in ourselves. At the same time we should not blame ourselves or abase ourselves, but analyse our deeds objectively, try to take a detached view of ourselves (which is not as simple as that), to broaden our outlook, to study the sciences, we are specialising in, as well as ethics, psychology etc.

 I believe that your problem lies in your inability to come to terms with other people, who do not share your vision of the world. I can be mistaken, of course. But it is exactly what we, the inhabitants of the Earth, and especially Russians, lack.

 It is the criminal, who should be responsible for a committed crime, but not the people, whose values become a refuge for some fanatic or mercenary agent.

 I hope that politicians and newsmen will become wiser and will first think before by accident or “for the common welfare" offending in public millions of far more intelligent, and above all innocent people. Amen.

 

Question: It is common knowledge that man cannot return himself to the right path. It can only be possible through the will of the All-knowing and the All-powerful, that is expressed in accordance with the Creator’s justice and mercy, with regard to the deeds, actions and aspirations of people. How, with what words can one ask Allah not to leave man alone and to set his heart to the true path and free his mind? G.

Answer: You can invoke Allah with the following words, for example: “Rabbana, la tusig’ kulubana ba’da iz hadaytana, wahab lana mil-ladunka rahma, innaka antal-wahhaab" (Lord, do not cause our hearts to go astray after You have guided us. Grant us Your mercy; You are the munificent Giver).[4]

 

Question: I believe in God and I want to convert to Islam. But there is one problem: I cannot imagine myself performing Namaz, paying Zakah, etc., although I do believe! It turns out to be that I cannot reckon myself among true Muslims. May I live only being a faithful person, but without performing religious rites? Although, I am well aware of the fact that it is wrong. Thank you! Slava.

Answer: You should take the first step, and do not bother about what will come next. If the Most High wishes it, He will bless you and encourage you to make the next steps as well (for your wordly and eternal welfare), just as He has encouraged you to convert to Islam.

 Everything is good in its season. One should not slow it down or speed it up.

 

Question: I have been married to an unbeliever for 35 years. I have been begging Allah for forgiveness for the whole life. My daughter has converted to Orthodoxy. It was a striking news for me. Will the Most High ever forgive me? Zuhra.

Answer: The mercy and the forgiveness of the Most High have no limits. It is inadmissible to despair of the manifestation of His mercy.

 Servants of Allah[5], you that have sinned against your souls [against life, youth, opportunities and other God’s goods that were given to you by Him], do not despair of Allah’s mercy, for He forgives all sins. He is the Forgiving one, the Merciful (See: the Holy Qur’an, 39: 53).

 

Question: I would like to ask the following question: how, in your opinion, ñan one improve the life of the Muslims in this country? Naturally by means of praying to the Most High, the point is, what methods should we use? If you have ever thought about it or if you have a certain piece of advice for me, please, be so kind as to give it to me. Thank you. With best regards, A. Ilyas.

Answer: Listen to the audiosermons at our site, look through our articles about Islam, and you will be able to resolve this issue.

 One of our major problems is our laziness that we fail to overcome. We want to achieve everything at once, without making any efforts or taking any measures, without spending years on it. And our life passes so quickly in the vanity of aimless and shallow actions, idle talks and hollow philosophical reflections.

 

Question: My father died young. He was a Muslim. My mother is a Christian. Today I think a lot about how I can help my mother. She does believe in God, she accepts Him as being the Unique God, that is in contrast to other Christians she believes only in God and she does not worship Mary or Jesus. My mother does not go to church either, for she is convinced that she does not need any mediator in order to address God. I have come across a Hadith which reads that children can help their parents after their deaths. I pray to Allah to forgive my father’s sins, but what should I do about my mother? I truly want to help her. Is there any way to do it? She does not want to change her religion. Leila.

Answer: Pray for her and perfect yourself in wisdom and high morality. You should achieve a lot, endure a lot, before an elder person, especially one of your parents begins to take your opinion seriously.

 

Question: I am a Christian. I want to convert to Islam. How should I behave so that my parents, relatives and friends would accept my decision? I would not like to conceal it. Thank you. Anastasia.

Answer: You should change not so much your appearances or vocabulary, as the essence, the state of your soul; you should increase the strength of your mind, but it should not be blind or fanatic, but flexible and astute.

 A beautiful necklace of faith was born in your soul and hereafter you should make serious efforts and manifest perseverance, steadfastness, high morals, show high standards of education, aspire for self-improvement, patience, selflessness, sincerity, overwhelming love for your parents and relatives, so that the enchanting splendour of your necklace would become brighter and brighter and thus give forth to white pearls of happiness and cheerfulness in the hearts of your parents, relatives and friends. This path becomes sometimes overshadowed by two bad human features – envy and misunderstanding. But if you act step-by-step, trying to be flexible and keen, which has been mentioned above, I am sure you will not have to conceal anything, but, on the contrary, you will have many opportunities to explain and to do a lot of things in order to share your experience with those aspiring for new religious knowledge. Amen.

 

Question: I would like to ask you a question. I went to the mosque to perform the tarawih-namaz a week ago. I met a woman there. This woman turned out to be a clairvoyant. And she herself without asking my permission began to talk to me about my life. She talked about my diseases and it was true. She talked about my past and it was all true as well. And then she began to talk about my future. Should I believe it? And how actually should I treat her words, for all that she had said was true? Gulnaz.

Answer: If you believe her words, your life will pass (more or less) in accordance with what she has told you. But if you do not pay attention to her predictions, you will lead your life according to your efforts, aspirations and the mercy of the Most High. I strongly recommend you to avoid any contacts with such kind of people. They act in the same way as drugs, that are at first sweet and pleasant, but then turn out to be a disruptive disaster; they ruin your life slowly and yet unfailingly.

 

Question: I live in one house with my Muslim sisters, but unfortunately I do not know their language. When we gather together in the kitchen, they speak their language with each other and I feel confused. Moreover it sometimes even abuses me. All my requests failed. Some of them speak deliberately their mother tongue so that I cannot understand anything. Is there any Hadith to the subject? Sometimes I am ready to leave it all, pack up my things and rent an isolated flat. But I understand that it will be very difficult for me to live alone in a non-Muslim country. May be I am too selfish? How should I behave in this situation? I am looking forward to receiving an answer from you. Thank you.

Answer: There is no need to quote a Hadith in this situation, for it mainly applies to them and not to you.

 As far as selfishness is concerned, I agree with you entirely. You should rear your faith and tolerance; you should rise above your sinful feelings and impressions. As soon as you change internally (that is with your inner perception, and not your appearances), they will change either, on the mercy of the Most High.

 One Muslim theologian said: “The one who is able to notice and to appreciate the positive in the world around, thinks positively (man who perceives the world around in bright colours, is so inside). While the one who thinks positively, will feel the delight of life".

 A devoted believer has many reasons and religious stimuli to be so.   

 

Question: Prophet Mohammed (may Allah’s blessing be upon him!) said: “Ask your heart, even if people give advice". You often refer to these words. Would you, please, explain, how should we ask one’s heart and what should the answer be like? Thank you.

Answer: You would agree that it would be at least odd if you happened to ask your stomach, whether it is hungry or not, and its answer would be even odder. Everything is much simpler: your brain reads the signals coming from your stomach and indicating whether it is empty or full, and you respond to it accordingly. A healthy heart functions in the same way, it monitors constantly the moral state, reactions and actions of man and estimates their “wrongfulness" or “rightfulness". Whereas a man in his turn either listens to these indicators or... That is how the internal dialogue of everyone of us looks like. I hope that you will manage some day to tune to the wave of your heart. Good luck!

 

Question: I am sorry to disturb you. I asked you a question and I got the following answer: “You should rear your faith and tolerance". I am well aware of the fact that I am only a young Muslim woman. I know what it means to strengthen faith in theory, but I guess that I commit some mistakes in practice. I often read books written by prominent and authoritative theologians, I try to keep astray from the sinful both in my thoughts and deeds, I keep fast not only during the month of Ramadan, I read Du’a and learn the Suras, I also listen to your sermons regularly. It is my sisters who provoke bad thoughts in me. I try to think and act positively, but sometimes I cannot stand it any more.

1. What would you advise me to do in my religious and spiritual improvement? It may sound funny, but how should I improve myself?

2. How do you think, I should leave this flat and live alone? Proceeding from the statement of the theologian, that you adduced, you will understand me correctly. I thank you for your understanding.

 

Answer: 1. Reading books and sending up prayers is one thing, while reacting positively to even extremely negative (from appearance) situations and sincere and devoted love for the Most High and people around, as well as the contentment with the actual state of affairs is something totally different.

 The great-grandson of Prophet Mohammed, ‘Ali, who received a surname Zeynul-‘abidin that is interpreted as “the decoration, the legacy of devoted believers", uttered such words: “There are people, who worship Allah the Most High because of fear. Verily this is the admiration of slaves. Others worship the Most High aspiring for a tribute. This is the worship of merchants. But there are those who worship Him because of true love and gratitude. Verily this is the worship of free and elect people".[6]

You cannot proceed from the principle “veni, vidi, vici". It is only a wise analysis of the world around and self-improvement, as well as the ability to take a detached view of oneself and to detect one’s mistakes that helps us in reaching the set goals on the mercy of the Creator.

2. I would advise you to stay. Through settling (on the mercy of Allah the Most High) the present situation and overcoming the negative feelings towards your neighbours, you can improve yourself greatly and thus lay a solid foundation for being able to find in future common language with any person. Love for the Most High ignites in the heart of man a flame of faith that removes negative impressions, associations, opinions and thoughts. Having achieved this state man does not become forever so, but it is only during these periods that he rests with his soul and feels happy.

 

Question: I just wanted to answer the question of the girl. She wrote that her neighbours spoke a foreign language in her presence and asked about a Hadith that would tell about the wrongfulness of such behaviour on their part. Al-Bukhari and Muslim adduce the following Hadith: “The Prophet (may Allah’s blessing be upon him!) told once: “If you are three together, let the two of you not whisper to one another in secret from the third one, unless you join other people, for it will give him pain".

Answer: We did not adduce this Hadith deliberately in our answer. For it would do nothing but strengthen the self-conceit of the young woman and encourage her critical attitude towards her Muslim sisters, which is in this case inappropriate. For these women are her neighbours and she should treat them kindly and respectfully, which is mentioned in the Ayah and Hadith far more often and with a greater emphasis.

 But if you have decided to refer to this very hadith, we adduce its Tahridj as well (for without it this text is not a hadith in the proper sense of the word): a hadith narrated by Ibn Mas’uda; the sacred Hadith from Ahmad, al-Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmizhi and Ibn Madj. See also as-Suyuty Dj. Al-djami’ as-sagyr [The concise collection]. Beirut: al-Kutub al-]ilmiya, 1990, p. 58, hadith ¹ 842, “sahih".

 

Question: Actually it is not a question as such. I just want to share with you some odd impression of mine, since you always devote special attention to the inner world in your sermons. The thing is that one of my nieces studies in the 4^th grade. In our country the text-books of this grade are provided with some famous Hadith. Once in the evening she recited to me several short statements. These Hadith dealt with the loss of knowledge, with the features of hypocrites, with malignant gossiping, backbiting etc. I suddenly felt an unintelligible confusion and perturbation and I asked her whether she understood the proper meaning of those statements. She answered on the level of her childish consciousness something like “this is right, and this is wrong", but nevertheless she understood the general meaning properly.

 After our conversation I stayed perturbed for a long time, but finally I realised that I was just ashamed before God, before my conscience, and even before my niece. For I do commit these sins in my everyday life. Moreover I heard, read these Hadith many times. Then why did these Hadith uttered by her strike me so to such an extent? May be because she has not yet committed these sins? And do the words uttered by a pious have the same power over human heart? It is very curious, isn’t it? Kauit.

Answer: You have made a useful observation. It is not without reason that people say: "... out of the mouths of babes and sucklings..."

 

Question: I have recently entered a university. I have met very interesting people there. And I have a great wish to convert all of them to Islam. But my knowledge is not deep enough. What should I begin with? I have a great advantage - I enjoy great respect of other people, on the mercy of Allah. Thank you very much! Issa L.

Answer: You should treat yourself more objectively and critically, do not overestimate yourself. No sooner have you acknowledged that you are so good and honoured by everybody, than you have lost this favour before the Most High. If you lose it entirely (if you do not undertake certain measures) before Him, you will lose it before them as well.

 Do not explain by means of words, but by personal example (successful studies, good manners, tactful behaviour, self-restraint etc).

 

Question: You write a lot about the qualities of a true Muslim, about how he can and should be like. And if I understood you correctly, Islam supplements the character with good features, for the inertia of the character is really strong and it is hard to realize that one has always acted wrongly and it is difficult to accept the new. One realizes the significance of it with one’s reason and comes to believe in it. The old worldview does not release, it keeps man strongly and every change in it resembles to separating the clothes sticking to the wound. What would you advise me to do? How should I behave when I get to know a lot of new things after a long period of an information lack and want to act right and consecutively from the very beginning? How can one define what is the most important at the very beginning of the path? I resemble a person who has to carry away many things but they are all scattered around him, and he does not know what to begin with and whether he will be able to carry all that he has shouldered. Forgive me for muddle. It is just a howl of my heart.

Answer: Analysing life views, aims, thoughts; systematizing one’s aspirations, deeds; improving the methods of settling both the most trivial and vital matters, requiring quick reaction, effectively – all this implies a certain talent, but as it is well known a talent consists 1% of aspiration and 99% of perspiration. 

 Start with little and do not try to cover all at once. Acquiring a good quality, do not leave it without attention, unless it becomes an integral part of yours, that is noticed and emphasized by people around, your colleagues or friends. When this feature becomes a part of your character, you will need nothing but merely to preserve it.

 

Question: I beg you to help me. I am a devoted Muslim woman, I try to keep in with my religion. The main problem is  that my heart is seized by unfailing fear for myself, my family, for people I cannot help to; this fear often arises without any reason: I open my eyes in the morning and I get a headache, my feet grow cold with fear, with frightening thoughts. After having performed Namaz I pray to Allah to free me from this state, but it does not release me entirely. Please, tell me what to do. Is there an additional prayer to reach inner piece. Is there a Du’a against groundless fear? I am looking forward to receiving your answer. Angelina.

Answer: Your state is not normal. Do not focus on these emotions. Try to find an occupation in order to divert your attention from them.

 If you keep focusing on your fear, these thoughts will destroy your psyche, just as a computer virus, that destroys the software gradually.

 Your salvation lies in the occupation with other things, without paying any attention to these fears. You would do better if you planned for the following day in advance, in the previous evening. This would hinder your fears-viruses to influence your life.

 You can also invoke Allah with the following Du’a prayer: Allaahumma innii a’uusu bika minal-hammi wal-hasan, wal-‘adjzi wal-kassal, wal-buhli wal-djubn, wa dala’id-deyn wa galabatir-ridjaal.

  The translation runs as follows: O, the Most High! I take myself away with Your help from anxiety and sorrow, from feebleness and laziness, from stinginess and cowardice, from the burden of the debt and human oppression.[7]

 

Question: I have been aware of your works since long ago. I have read some of your books and I have listened to your sermons. I have a problem: my parents are always quarrelling because my father has a mistress. I have suffered because of this problem since my childhood. I do not know what I should do. When I start thinking of it, I get a headache. Since I was a little boy I have remembered my parents constantly quarrelling. I feel inferior and psychologically ill. If it does not change, they will divorce and my sisters and brothers will grow up without their father. We are Muslims, that is why I do not interfere with their affairs. Dear Shamil, please, tell me, what should I do? I thank you in advance! M.

Answer: First of all you should not shatter your psyche. Get rid of all sort of slackness, confusion, thoughts about inferiority. Stop complaining. Improve yourself and become an ambitious person. It is a shame for a Muslim to be a milksop.[8]

 As far as your parents are concerned, after performing the obligatory Namaz-prayer pray to Allah to keep the integrity of your family, to renew love and mutual understanding between your parents and to bring them to their senses.

 Nothing good as well as bad is eternal in this world.

 

 Question: Is the study of other religions undesirable (provided many overt aspects of these religions contradict Islam)? I mean such religions as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity etc. Of course I will not study them to the detriment of Islam. I like to discover the truth in all its manifestations in various value systems and thus come to understand my religion even deeper. I agree with many aspects (for wisdom and truth were realized differently on the Earth), although I try to follow Islamic tradition. I will be very grateful to you if you answer. Leila.

Answer: Continuous self-education is a must for every Muslim. It is important to study both the paramount and the minor, provided you have sorted out your priorities. A believer should strive to get thorough education, focusing on fundamental sciences, universal fields, self-studying and reaching both worldly and eternal welfare and happiness.

 Through studying the past, we contribute to the development of the future.

 

Question: What should I do? Please, help me! I began to practice Islam about a year ago, meaning I tried to observe the norms of Islam. Naturally I faced some difficulties at once. But I tried hard, I really did. For the last months something terrible has been happening to me. I miss the prayer-time, I waste my time talking to somebody. I repent, and I do sincerely. So I repent, I cry, but after some days everything repeats again. I do not want it! I do not like it like this! Please, help me to settle this situation and to reach inner harmony!

Answer: There is nothing catastrophic in it. You are gradually acquiring a new moral image and in some time you will be able to undertake the commitment of following religious rules and observing Islamic rites, which will become an integral part of your life. You should first and foremost aspire for progress. Do not go astray from your path, even if once you have committed a mistake. Do not torture yourself with groundless and obtrusive conjectures and constant reproaches. Just stand up and go. The time will be ripe when piety, consciousness and purposefulness will become natural for you. Then another period will start, when you need to make an effort to preserve the achieved results. For if becoming imprudent and careless man may not only get into an accident or lose his purse, but also lose little by little his dignity, pride and generosity.

 

Question: I have the following question: may one commit a sin deliberately and then expiate it? Is it forgivable? Rassul.

Answer: It is difficult to give an immediate answer to this question. Only the Creator, the Lord of the world is aware of the whole variety of multiple manifestations of emotional state. On the Day of Judgement everything that is concealed will be unveiled. We shall see then.

 

Question: I have recently got a decent job, with God’s help. I have established very good and friendly relationships with all of my colleagues except for one woman. She is always cross with me and tries to humiliate me. Lately she has asked me to give her some papers- a data list. I have stretched it out to her, but she said only: “Will you put it on the table, please, I will take it", that is she is squeamish about taking anything from hand to hand. On the following day I offered her a teddy-bear (according to the laws of Islam, I wanted to requite her with good), but she did not accept it. On the contrary she got even angrier with me, she nearly cursed me. You should understand me, for I will have to work with her for a long time, whereas she cannot stand me. What should I do? Rustam.

Answer: Do not pay any attention to her negative attitude. Act as if nothing has happened. She may feel envious of you. You should not focus on the insults or offences on her part. She is abasing herself exhibiting such behaviour, and all colleagues surely understand it. Thus do not pay attention to her. Do your job and try to display kindness and friendliness towards people around.

 

Question: I want to convert to Islam. The problem is that I live in Uzbekistan, but I do not speak Uzbek. And I do not know whom I should address with my request. What should I begin with? With best regards, Nodir.

Answer: There is no need worrying, for it is so easy and so natural to believe, since true faith can be limited neither by languages nor by distances. Faith is eternal and unlimited. At the same time human heart is a vessel that can carry this deep, beautiful and grand feeling.

 Your spiritual progress should be steady and uninterrupted.

 

Question: My brother is seriously ill. His soul is “ill". He used to be a devoted Muslim, he used to read a lot and send up prayers. As he told me, he used to have dreams about Prophets and about how he approached God. But as soon as he had entered a university he got obsessed with negative thoughts (Kufr), that he cannot till today get rid of. According to him, these thoughts have become an integral part of his inner world. Gradually he accepted them and eventually he became a Kafir. I still cannot realize how it is possible. He has a strong wish to repent and to return to the right path. But no sooner does he repent than these thoughts obsess him and he yields to them again and again, as it has repeated many times. I guess it has become a bad habit, that he cannot manage to get rid of, although he is willing to do it greatly. He is degrading from day to day. I want to help him. Please, advise me on what to begin with. Rinat.

Answer: He must urgently get rid of all these thoughts, and especially, whether he has or he has not become “a Kafir". He should by no means fight against all those bad ideas that obsess his consciousness! He should not focus his attention on them. If he does not follow this advice, and especially, if he does not learn to neglect such cases, he is bound to lose control over his psyche and as a result he will be forced to resort to the service of a psychiatrist, and what is even worse – he will get into a clinic. I have come across such examples personally. Therefore I strongly recommend you not to neglect the situation and especially not to listen to the person, whose psyche is on the verge of mental disease. It is he who must listen to you, and not vice versa.

 Unfortunately, this country is facing today many psychological diseases that are to a lesser or to a greater extent connected with religion. The ideas and reflections you are writing about are typical of various sects. Every person irrespective of his\her confession or world view can fall under their impact (especially when getting into trouble or when having problems).

 The only way out is to neglect this information quagmire, to find one’s place in life, to preserve carefully traditions and to enforce one’s faith, improve high morals, generosity, generally recognised moral values. And, of course, constant self-improvement and self-education are of major importance for every person.

 By the way, it is not the soul of your brother that is “ill", it is his psyche that is degrading and going to ruin. These are absolutely different things, believe me.

 

Question: Why do we all treat time so irresponsibly, regarding it as something that is always ready to hand? Why do we invent deliberately the reasons, how to waste it, whereas we turn out to have no time to deal with really important issues? Actually everything that is labelled as the progress of civilisation, the welfares of civilisation is aimed primarily at depriving people of their time and means. All this glitter, tinsel and overt luxury, as well as continuous search often hinder us to stop for a second and to think, who you are and where you are going to. Sometimes we do not even want to stop and to ponder on it, for the outcome is not in our favour. And why do we realize how much time we have wasted for nothing when it is already too late; we look back and it seems to us that we could have achieved more, could have done something better? How should we use our time sensibly, reasonably, how not to waste it (these are just my personal, very subjective reflections on the matter, and if something is totally wrong, I would be grateful to you, if you corrected me and gave me some advice)? N.

Answer: We need to educate ourselves; we must strive to get an overwhelming education. And the achievement of professional success in the chosen sphere is of primary significance on this path. Gradually our world view as well as our attitude to life in general will become richer, keener, more sensible and reasonable. May the Most High bless us and send His mercy upon us.

 

Question: What should one do, if faith becomes weaker? Ilgisar.

Answer: You should work, live, educate yourself. It is also recommended to attend Friday’s sermons.

 

Question: ...Everything and everybody here is against me. I am not afraid of it, but I fear to become the same as they are, for if one lives in a place where Haram (the prohibited, that is alcohol, ribaldry, dissipation) is encouraged, one is bound to adjust to these people. May it be in Allah’s will, I will never become like them, but I feel, that my Iman (faith) gradually becomes weaker. Amina.

Answer: Do not fight, but educate yourself and act and think positively. Widen the horizons of your thinking and world perception. This is very important.

 

Question: I have the following question. I came to Islam 1,5 years ago, alhamdulillahi (glory to Allah)! I keep all fasts, but my parents do not know that I am a Muslim. Is it a sin, that I am concealing the truth? My parents will not support me and they will initiate quarrels, that is why I have not told them. But I am really WORRIED about it, and it weighs on my conscience, that I make offence against Islam, although I perfectly realize that it won’t lead to any good. Must I make a clean breast of it? And may one keep it from one’s parents? Thank you for your answer! Malika.

Answer: There is no need in declaring your faith and piety in public, so that their sincerity and trustworthiness would be put to doubt. It is up to you to decide whether to tell anybody or not about your conversion to Islam. As far as your “worry" is concerned, I suppose it is caused by your youth. Do not worry, everything will be all right.

 Keep following this path; work out a written plan of your spiritual, intellectual, financial growth and family integration (that is try to reach the state when you begin to understand the members of your family and so do they) for the following months, year. It may be useful to refer to the following quotation: “We often treat leniently those, who are a burden on us, but we are never indulgent towards those, to whom we are a burden".[9]   

 You do not deceive anybody, you do not do harm to anybody, on the contrary, with regard to modern “information terrorism" you do not want to cause groundless anxiety to your parents.

  A true faith is mainly connected with our reason, and not with our emotions.

 

Question: In the modern world it is considered to be unfashionable and unpopular, at first sight, to be modest. How does Islam treat modesty?

Answer: First, let us try to outline and to imagine the limits of such noble human quality as modesty. The dictionary explains:

 A modest person – somebody, 1) who lacks conceit, arrogance, who does not show off his\her virtues and merits; 2) who is unpretentious, who is not fastidious, somebody who contents himself\herself with the little; 3) who is self-restrained; exigent to oneself in the moral aspect; 4) who is not eye-catching, who does not draw special attention; common, usual.[10]

 All these definitions fully correspond to the Islamic ethics of behaviour.

 Now let us turn to the heritage of the Prophet, that is transmitted from generation to generation and that was checked for reliability very thoroughly in the first decades after his death. Prophet Mohammed (may Allah’s blessing be on him) used to say:

   “Modesty and faith are part and parcel, two indissoluble parts of the whole (they are attended by each other). If one of them is gone, it is followed by the other (human soul loses its second part as well)";[11]

   “Modesty is a blessing, it is complete";[12]

   “Modesty brings to man only blessing and nothing besides it";[13]

   “Modesty (comes) from faith, whereas faith leads (man) to Paradise. Indecency and insolence (come) from callousness and sternness, and these qualities lead (man) to Hell".[14]

  The above mentioned Hadith are only a small number of the Hadith that emphasize the significance of modesty as the integral part of the moral image of man.

 

Question: When I was five years old I once chased and hit a small kitten with a stick, who would writhe with pain and mew mournfully. I was frightened and cried hysterically. At that moment I wished only that it would not die. After some minutes the kitten stopped mewing and went away and I breathed with relief. Naturally, children have no idea about faith at this age and I guess that at that moment I felt sympathy with the poor kitten, the sympathy that is given to us from birth by the Creator. But in childhood I saw older children chasing cats, catapulting them etc. You would agree that we bear compassion and cruelty as well as many other character features from our birth. And the deeds that we perform depend to a great extent on what we possess from birth. In this connection I would like to ask you the following: I wonder whether people, with inborn evil or good, to a greater or lesser extent, will be judged equally on the Day of Judgement? I thank you in advance. Abakar.

Answer: Only the Lord of the world knows what is in store for everyone of us. As far as “evil or good that we get from birth to a greater or lesser extent" is concerned, I would disagree with you completely. In my view, the Qur’an and the Sunna tell us that the majority of people come to this world with equal qualities and features; on the whole everything is proportional. Whereas depending on the education, life circumstances, man’s intentions and actual deeds, some of his or her features develop to a greater extent, while other qualities become lost. Prophet Mohammed (may Allah’s blessing be on him) said: “Every child is born with Fitra (that is given to him by the Creator). Fitra (a true natural faith in the Lord of the world; inborn features, qualities, virtues) is preserved in him until his tongue begins to express his thoughts. Parents cultivate in their children either Judaic, or Christian, or pagan worship".[15] It is the parents who play the primary role in the development of their children’s faculties and in their conversion to a certain religion.

 Man is not ideal, he cannot become ideal, but he must struggle for the better, he must learn to control the negative and to develop kindness and generosity in himself.

 We would like to adduce the following two Hadith:

 “Real strength is possessed not by the one who wins in a combat, but the one who can restrain himself (control himself) in a fit of temper".[16] It means that everyone has anger in them, but people differ from each other through their ability to control this inborn disposition, which constitutes the true image of man.

 Islamic theologians have noted: “What can be more beautiful than faith complemented by knowledge? And it is even better when knowledge is ornated with pious actions. And it is even better when deeds and actions are ornated with kindness and friendliness".

 Everybody would agree with these words, everybody would understand subconsciously that they are right, but are there a lot of those who will apply them in practice?

 And as far as the words “to a greater or lesser extent" are concerned, the scientists dealing with the culture of speech behaviour, state: “Man is given a concrete language not by nature, he learns to possess it in the process of communication[17]; genetically he possesses only speech competence, but not speech performance. That is why if a child lives from birth in a stylistically favourable and pure atmosphere, practically no mistakes ever happen in his speech".[18]

 At the same time every man is unique, and he will be judged, probably, accordingly. Only the Most High knows the truth.

 

Question: Please, tell me what I should do. I am obsessed with the idea that I will never achieve success in studies, profession or marriage. I am a religious person and I do everything that I am supposed to do, but these fixed ideas make me upset. Is there a Du’a-prayer against such thoughts? Please, give me an answer. An.

Answer: 1. Do not pay any attention to these thoughts. Neglect them. 2. Try to appraise your even small achievements and successes. And thank the Most High for it. 3. Move steadily towards the set aims and goals. 4. I recommend you to read the book From subject to subject (the third volume from the series Bibliotheca Islamica), as well as The howl of the heart or the crisis of the spirit. The first book will serve as a handbook, whereas the second one is a travelling guide.

 

Question: I am a newly-converted Muslim woman. Allah’s mercy and blessing led my husband and me to this decision, and our friends supported us in it. I listened to their stories with rapture and I was happy about it, for I realised that I finally found the path that I had searched for. I performed my first Namaz with great trepidation of delight and excitement. Further on I performed it calmly and confidently and, of course, with great love for our God. It was not difficult for me to stand up in the morning and perform the morning Namaz. I gradually learned additional Suras, read ayah al-Kursi and tried to listen to your audio-sermons every day. They help greatly to pluck up one’s spirit, to arm oneself with patience, assiduity, to get rid of laziness and to avoid committing sins. Unfortunately, I have to complement these words of gratitude with a request for help. The thing is that on the first day of Hayd I had to miss Namaz and in this connection I felt afraid and uncomfortable. Within these several days I committed plenty of minor sins, that I could not resist, moreover I was tempted to commit them by some unknown force. My friends supported me, they recommended that I should read ayah al-Kursi or Hadith. But I could not force myself to take the book, I confused the words, I was lazy to look at your site with your sermons in the Internet. I was waiting for the moment when I could perform Namaz and recover the lost peace. But... I felt deep disappointment when this moment came. I performed Namaz inconsistently, my thoughts were fleeting, I had a strong wish to finish Namaz and to occupy myself with something else. It has been going on for a week already and it is becoming even worse...

  Thank you very much. May Allah bless you.

Answer: You have reached the first stage of “delight and excitement" in your personal spiritual development, you have received a mine of information. Now you have stopped at the next stage of “consciousness and the manifestation of will". There is nothing bad in what is happening to you. You are facing the next target, and when you achieve it, new beautiful facets of faith will be revealed to you. Do not stop, do not burden yourself with preconceived ideas, do not complicate religious practice. Enrich your faith with good and noble deeds every day of your life.