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Readers' Letters

I have included a few emails that I have received in connection with this website. Any answers which I have given can be found below the message in question. Of course, this is just a small selection of the messages I receive. If you have any comments on this site or questions, please contact me.

Tuesday 13th January 2004

I am an architecture student and I am currently designing a masjid for a project but I have no information in that respect. Could you help me by telling me what design aspects are important in a masjid?

Gracias!

From Lilliana in Costa Rica (translated from Spanish)

Some features found in a typical modern masjid would include: -

Tuesday 13th January 2004

The meat from carnivorous animals is haram. What passage from the Qur'an mentions the prohibition on eating meat from carnivores? Merci.

From Al in France (translated from French)

There is no verse from the Qur'an which mentions this. The prohibition on eating carnivores comes from the following hadith which can be found a number of times in Sahih Muslim:

...Allah's apostle (peace be upon him) prohibited the eating of every fanged beast of prey.
(Sahih Muslim, book 21, hadiths 4748, 4749, 4750, 4751, 4752 and 4754.)

Thursday, 8th January 2004

Do you know where I can find a translation of the Qur'an, not into Spanish or English, but for example "COL ALAHO AHAD ALAHO SAMAD LAMIALID UA LA MIULAD UALAMIAKUN LAHO KUFU ANAHAD" for I do not know how to read Arabic.

From Taer in Morocco (translated from Spanish)

There are a few sites which contain transliterated versions of the Qur'an. Spanish-speaking Muslims can find one at Coran.org.ar. For English-speaking Muslims, this can be found at the University of Southern California Muslim Student Association website.

Sunday 28th December 2003

Thank you for this wonderful site.

I have not yet learned to pray as I have been too shy to go to the mosque (I converted just over one year ago). I have no friends and my family are Christians (I find this a challenge) - this is the only reason why I have not been to the mosque to learn. Until now I have been teaching myself. I will now practice prayer using the instruction on your site Insha Allah. Thank you.

From an English sister

Sunday 28th December 2003

I was never belonged to any religion and never believed until Islam and the Muslim religion and the truth spoke to me. Now I am learning many things from the Internet because I don't have anybody that could give the information I need. I am now secure in my heart about converting to Islam. This site is beautiful. Thanks. CAROLINA MAA SALAMA

From Carolina in Argentina (translated from Spanish)

Saturday 27th December 2003

is it true that you can pierce one side of the nose, if so does it say in the Qur'an.

From a Somali sister

As far as I am aware, there are no verses from the Qur'an which mention this, nor are there any hadiths. Because it hasn't been explicitly forbidden, I would say this sort of piercing would be allowed but disliked - as with all items of jewellery, it should be small, modest and inconspicuous.

Tuesday 16th December 2003

Your site is terrific and all that works in the way of the worship and Islamic religion is daiya, continue, I wish you that god you guides you and protects you - inchaallah. Akhoukoum fi allah, Abou-Abderrahmane.

From Abou-Abderrahmane in Oran, Algeria (translated from French)

Tuesday 16th December 2003

Thanks for having created this site because I never have time to read Islamic books - salam.

From Insaf in Brussels (translated from French)

Wednesday 3rd December 2003

I have been on many sites and I have to say that this site is very good, in fact it is excellent it has given me a lot of information and inshallah I will be sharing them with the rest of my family especially the younger members as I feel this site explains things in a very easy manner.

Thank you

From Tasneem in Leeds, UK

Friday 28th November 2003

I have read you text on halal and haram, I have found out that Ribena and Lucozade contain less than 0.1% alcohol, this is added to carry the flavourings and would not intoxicate a person, it is not added for intoxication purposes, but because the alcohol is not naturally produced during fermentation like bread is this still halal.

Yours in Islam, Faizal.

From Faizal in the UK

Because the alcohol has been added artificially and because it is a substance that could intoxicate if taken in sufficient quantities, this renders these products haram. I have heard that Pepsi also contains this alcohol as part of their colouring, although I have yet to find confirmation of this. I can confirm that Coca-Cola does not contain alcohol. However, do yourselves and your brothers and sisters in Palestine a favour by buying Mecca Cola instead!

Sunday 16th November 2003

What is the prayer timetable for Costa Rica for this month?

From Mohamed in Panama (translated from Spanish)

There are a few sites offering prayer timetables. One of the best is provided by Al-Islam.com.

Monday 10th November 2003

SALAM ALAYKOUM

Is it halal to keep caged pets in the house (i.e. birds, hamsters) if we keep them well-fed, protected and give them plenty of affection?

Is it halal to keep a cat and to have it neutered so as not to separate it from it's children and to give it plenty of affection, food and attention?

I would like if it is possible that you give me a hadith of the Prophet for me to be certain.

I thank you for your response.

From Samia in Algeria (translated from French)

Showing affection and mercy to animals is highly recommended - in fact, there are a number of hadiths which tell of people who had led sinful lives, but where granted a place in paradise simply because they showed mercy to an animal.

As I mentioned on my Home & Leisure page, it is halal to keep almost any animal as a pet - one of the best known companions of the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was given the nickname Abu Hurraira (the father of kittens) due to his love of cats. The only restrictions are placed on dogs.

As for neutering pets, this is permissible as long as it doesn't cause any suffering to the animal.

Monday 3rd November 2003

I have recently decided to convert to Islam and i have to say that your site is excellent. It has been a very helpful source of knowledge for me. I was especially impressed with the "How to prey" section, as that is what i was most worried about. Thank you very much.

From a sister in London

Sunday 2nd November 2003

This site is a great use to all brothers and sisters.

From a sister in England

Saturday 1st November 2003

I really appreciate what you do for I really appreciate what you do for us Muslims, I can only thank you and to encourage you. I was born to a Muslim father and mother, I went to the Quranic school which I unfortunately did not finish because I went only at the weekends, the other days I studied at the French school. Today I am major and I regret really for my lack of knowledge of the Qur'an (reading in Arabic), I wanted your councils. Ábientôt dear brother in Islam.

From Zoumlale in Togo (translated from French)

A good French site which offers a transliterated version of the Qur'an (showing the Arabic language in the roman alphabet) can be found at Oumma.com. English and Spanish sites offering the same things have been mentioned further up the page.

Thursday 30th October 2003

i am a Pakistani girl who's parents never properly taught me Islam as there were many complications. it has now come to a point in my life where i need to know my religion 100%. i just don't know how to go about this as i have no-one. please help.

From a sister in England.

Wednesday 29th October 2003

Hello Amir,

This website is brilliant, so easy to read and find my way around! I discovered this site while searching for guidelines about Islamic etiquette and manners because I live in a Muslim household.

I'm not Muslim so when I first arrived in the house my landlady explained three rules - remove my shoes on entering, don't walk in front of anyone praying and don't bring any males into the house. However, nobody warned me about the countless little sneaky rules which is where fantastic websites like yours come in!

Just one question before I go, it's been bugging me for ages... is the proper spelling supposed to be Noble Qur'an or Noble Koran? I really don't want to be getting it wrong!

Keep up the hard work, thank you for such a helpful site and have a Happy Ramadaan

From a visitor in England

Thank you. The correct spelling is Qur'an. The word 'Koran' is an Americanised spelling of this word.

Wednesday 29th October 2003

Salem alikoum,

I'm making a point of congratulating you for the quality of your site. May God protect you.

From Abdnasser in Paris (translated from French)

Monday 27th October 2003

I find its brilliant that you can put information on our religion (Islam) on the Internet because we do not have answer, and let everyone know that there are people to inform us and direct us. I thank you from the bottom of the heart. GOD bless you. I will want to know as I sinned before if I repented if GOD could forgive me one day.

From a sister in France (translated from French)

In answer to this question, Allah accepts anyone who sincerely repents for any wrong-doing.

Saturday 25th October 2003

Is make-up forbidden during Ramadan?

Delayed prayers: are they allowed? If there isn't anywhere to pray (all day in public), what do I do?

When is the night prayer? help me please. I am practising as well as possible, but please answer these questions.

Thank you in advance.

Soumaya (17 years)

From Soumaya in Belgium (translated from French)

In answer to these questions:

  1. It is best not to wear make-up at any time, as this draws attention to yourself and therefore negates any benefits of wearing hijab.
  2. If for any reason prayers cannot be prayed at their stated time, they should be prayed as soon as possible.
  3. The time of the night prayer (Isha) varies according to location and time of year. The best place to find out prayer times is the timetable at Al-Islam.com. Tahajud prayer can be prayed any time during the night, preferably during the last third.

Tuesday 21st October 2003

I am a Muslim Frenchwoman who converted in the Paris Mosque in 1982. I have sought the pronunciations of the prayers to help me has to make Ramadan with my children this year. Yours is the only clear and simple site. Congratulations.

From a sister in Abu Dhabi (translated from French)

Thursday 16th October 2003

Hi, Your website was very enlightening, I'm considering converting to Islam not really considering I'm actually rather keen on it. Its a religion that i would really like to be apart of, there's just a few things that i found on a previous website that totally threw me off and actually made me scared to want to pursue this goal. Ur website on the other hand was a more "user friendly" version. I am currently "dating" a Muslim guy, his not at all the reason why i want to convert but he is partly, i too have Muslim family and have always been interested in the religion. We are considering marriage, i don't want to get married before I've converted i want to enter Islam not because I'm getting married to a Muslim but because i want to and that is my intention, marriage isn't on the horizon in the near future probably in the next 2 to 3 years (god willing) Could u advise me on the exact procedure which u go through, like ur name changing does it have to be according to ur first initial? what happens? all the basic kind of converting things... if u could please be kind enough to furnish me with that information on my email address. thank u

From a visitor in South Africa

About a month writing after sending me this message, she did indeed take her shahada and converted to Islam, Alhamdulillah (all praises and thanks to Allah)!

As for changing names, the only stipulation is that the name should have a good meaning. Many people (including myself) choose to adopt an Arabic name when converting so they can feel a part of their new community.

Friday 3rd October 2003

This is really a very informative and well done website, great job!!

From a brother in the USA

Thursday 18th September 2003

Dear Sir,

I am preparing to become a Muslim as we i write this to you. However, i am more than a little daunted about going to the Mosque for the first time. Your page has been more than informative about everything, however i am still worried, as i have no language other than English. Is there anything you can recommend to help me with this. I am white and will look out of place certainly and i really don't know how everything is supposed to be done, compared to a Church this all looks very complex, but i am converting. Is there any segregation of the male and female population of the Mosque, my girlfriend of many years is going to accompany me and i was hoping that she would be able to help me through the whole process. Anyway, what can you recommend to a somewhat nervous white guy on the subjects raised. Will i appear out of place in the Mosque? And are services ever conducted in English, and finally, is it possible to speak to the Imam, in the form of an appointment, at any time during the day?

Many Thanks

From David in London

As a Muslim convert, I too felt nervous at first. However, you will soon find that your fellow Muslims are very welcoming towards new bothers and sisters. Men and women are segregated within the Mosque, as detailed in my reply to Liliana at the top of the page. Some mosques conduct their khutbas (sermons) in English and some don't - it's just a matter of finding one that does. As a rule of thumb, mosques located near to universities and in mixed communities are most likely to do this, as they are more likely to have people of different nationalities attending them.

Monday 18th August 2003

Salaam al-alikom

Thanks for your very useful site and Allah bless you. I just have a few questions.

  1. Is wine vinegar halal?( I can't find any ingredient label on it)
  2. How about if we go to friend's party and we couldn't ask them about the food if they are not halal (especially about meat)
  3. Can we use something like chocolates or candies when we don't know if there is alcohol on it?

From a sister in Canada

In answer to these questions:

  1. Yes, wine vinegar is halal because it contains no alcohol.
  2. In this situation, it is best to avoid any foods which you have any doubts about (especially meat) and just eat food that you know is halal.
  3. It is usually very obvious if chocolates have alcohol in them as they would be advertised as such. If they are out of the box, you don't know for sure whether they are halal or not, and there is a chance that they could contain alcohol, it is best to avoid them.

Sunday 17th August 2003

Brothers/Sisters;

As salaam al'aikum.

I am the editor of ProIslam.com, a website dedicated to the social and political empowerment of American Muslims. We look at critical social and legislative issues in America to ensure that our readers are addressing the important issues as they relate to the Muslim community in America. We also have a bi-monthly column that addresses issues important to American Muslims. This column is freely available for reproduction and/or syndication, as long as a link exists to the website. Our website offers information on the Muslim boycott of Israel, various anti-Muslim pundits that attempt to marginalize our community, and a general introduction to Islam. Currently, we are generating anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 hits a week.

We were wondering if you would be interested in a reciprocal website link. You can link to us directly by linking to our homepage: www.proislam.com, or you can carry our attractive flash banner by placing this code in your links page:

<!-- START COPY HERE -->
<script language="JavaScript" src="http://disco.flashbannernow.com/vfb.php?u=40702"></script>
<!-- END COPY -->

Inserting this html code into your webpage will link to a flash banner hosted by disco. No graphics are required to be hosted locally on your server.

Please let us know if you would be interested in syndicating the column or carrying our link.

Jazakallah Khair,
Jamal Khawaja
Editor, ProIslam.com
832.878.2844 (c)

From Jamal Kawaja in the USA

Wednesday 9th July 2003

AS SALAMOU ALEKOUM

I am a Moslem girl who lives in France and I need to know the E-numbers of food additvives having gelatine which is authorized. It appears there is gelatine of Porcine origin and another of Bovine origin I impatiently await your answer and I thank you.

From a sister in France (translated from French)

A full list of food additives and whether they are halal or not can be found at Muslim Consumer Group.com.

Thursday 3rd July 2003

my brother

Asalam Alikom

I am writing a book about those who beacame a Muslim after SEP11 2000 can you help me with that if you know any one who converted after that event

thank you brothers for your help and may Allah (swt) reward you for that.

Fahd

From Fahd in Saudi Arabia

If there are people out there who could help, please email me so I can put you in contact with our brother.

Sunday 29th June 2003

This is a great site. A friend of mine is considering conversion to Islam, and I am going to show this to her. Insha'Allah, it will help answer her questions.

Salaam

From a sister in Kansas City, USA.

Saturday 21st June 2003

Asslammu alikum ,

Dear Brother

I hope that all of you are fine and happy by the grace of Allah,

I have a Question, how do i listen to the Quraan on net. I have a site where i can listen the Quran daily but i have forgetten the link's address,

plz help me to find one ,
allha Hafiz

From a brother in Kashmir

There are quite a few sites which have downloadable recordings of the Qur'an. For example, you can download MP3 recordings of the Qur'an at Shaplus.com

Tuesday 27th May 2003

Hello i found your site very interesting. I'm not a muslim at the moment but I am going to convert. I just want to find out a bit more about my new religion before I do so. I would like to know were i can get a muslim calander from, as my family is not muslim and at the moment my muslim friends are very few, and I want to know when I should be fasting and things like that. Thank you for your insight to Islam.

i would be very gratefull for your reply.
thankyou ever so much

From a visitor in Australia

The best way to obtain an Islamic Calendar is to download Hijri Cal from DivineIslam.com.

Friday 9th May 2003

Hi, how are you?

Could u please help me out?
If my famliy sells alcohol, how bad is that? What will happen? And can you please reply back soon as possible, thank you.
bye

From Majbeen Ali in the UK

Selling alcohol is bad because you would have a share in any bad things that happen as a result of that alcohol being consumed i.e. family breakups, road accidents caused by drink driving, physical assaults and violence caused by drunkeness, etc etc.

Monday 7th April 2003

Three are main religins of the world and all beleive in one GOD, then why dont they get along? My scond question is , would it not be concevable that the torra, the gospil, and the q-uran are all the word of God, sent to us through different messengers( profits) so that we could all share in his truth and by excepting all three, then we could find peace hear on this planet. for example the torra as the law, the gospil as the way, and the quran as the comfort.

In the book of revelation it speaks of the new city decending from the heavens to dweel here on earth, it has stated that there are three gates in the north, three gates in the south, three gate in the east, and three in the west. could this not repersent the four corners of the world, and that the three gate are, the law (or torra given by moses ), the way ( as jesus lived his life, and also he said "i was not sent hear to do away with the law but to forfill it" and just to note he never refered to himself as the son of God but always as the son of man, and told us to worship and to pray to the one and only true GOD eg- the lord pray) and that mohammed being the last messenger to bring us the comfort of God to show us and teach us how to live in the law, to walk in the way of rightousness and to know his comfort and to bring us comfort from God and with each other. ( God is a mercyfull God not one who carrys a club in his hand ready to bash us over the head when we step out of line. i suffer because of my own mistakes,and i beleive that it is not how many mistake that i make but rather do i have true repentive heart or not. and i beleive that repentance meens to change ones mind and direction.) I am i simple man who only wants live my life the way God wants me too. i am not a scolar, so please forgive my ignorance.i just want to know the truth. I do hope to hear back from you soon concering my comments and any revelation you wish to convey to me.

From a visitor in Canada

Saturday 15th March 2003

I think that you are doing a very good job and may allah bless you inshallah keep up the good work

From a brother in England

Monday 10th March 2003

this might be a stupid question but i believe questions should be asked to gain knowledge. Is it allowed for a not-yet Muslim to carry out islamic beliefs ie; wudu, praying or even fasting at Ramadan?

From Jessica in Leeds, England

In my opinion, it is good for non-muslims to do this just so they get an idea of our practices.

Sunday 2nd March 2003

Salamalaikum

I was wondering if you could help with a question that i am trying to get my head around.

My understanding is that E471 and E472(e) are haram. However in products such as normal loafed bread these aditives are added. However the packaging also states that the bread is suitable for vegeterians with a "V'. This is also the same for many other products. I know that the additives that I have mentioned can be produced without using animal fats but it this is not listed on such packing.

Would you know of if the 'V' would allow it permissible to consume such products?

Your guidance would be much apprecaited.

From a brother in London

The status of those additives, along with many other, is dependant on whether their source is halal. Any additive that is derived from pork, or from animals which haven't been slaughtered according to shariah law is haram. Because the food is marked as being suitable for vegetarians, the additives would therefore be halal.

Monday 24th February 2003

Hallo,

We have a female patient and three other people from Dubai visiting our house. Which meals and beverages can we offer without doubts? What is to be considered?  I am very grateful to you for your answer.

From Torsten in Germany (translated from German)

Monday 10th February 2003

Salam Alikum,

Sir, (I'm assuming this is a sir, if not please forgive me). Kudos on a wonderful site!!! It is very informative, very easy to manuever and laid out in a very intuitive fashion. Keep up the great work!!

I do have a question, actually 2 of them that you might hopefully be able to help me with.

The main reason I came across this site (it came up in a Google search by the way if you collect that kind of demographic website info for later analysis) because I wanted to find out when is it permissible to pray the sunnah prayers?

Does one wait till for instance till it is time to pray the Duhr prayer and then start with the 4 sunnah, then 4 fard and then 2 sunnah OR start a little before the official Duhr prayer time and pray the 4 sunnah, then hopefully by the time u r done Duhr time will be up so u pray the 4 fard and then 2 sunnah??

I am very confused and it isn't the easiest subject to search for on a search engine, u can imagine the loads of sites that come up talking about mainly how to pray because of the keywords salat and prayer.

If u can help with this or at least point me to a site that can help I would be very appreciative indeed. Also, in the course of researching this question on your website, I noticed that you say that for asr prayer there is a 4 sunnah prayer associated with it.

I have always been told that one cannot pray after the Asr prayer as the Prophet (SAW) forbade it, because He didn't want to make things hard for muslim (being that it is a time when the sun is high and the heat is very intense etc.

Whats your take on that? Do u have any bibliography citing that the Prophet prayed 4 sunnahs for Asr prayer??

I have heard both arguments, it is not a big deal but I was just wondering.....thats all.

Again thanx for a wonderful website, may allah look after you and guide in the best of ways....for this is a wonderful thing u r doing,,,,,promoting Islam and carrying the message.......

Salaam alaikum, kol sanna wenta taib for Arafat (I beleive fasting is tomorrow) and may Allah make things easy for u as u have made information easily accessible for people like me.

:-)

From Hesham in the USA

If you want to perform sunnah prayers, you should wait until the time for that prayer has arrived (i.e. after the azan, or call to prayer). As for the Asr prayer, there is no sunnah prayer after the fard prayer - as our brother rightly said, the Prophet Muhammad (SAW) prohibited this because of the heat associated with that time of day. However, you can pray a sunnah prayer before the fard prayer.

Return to Top - © Amir Brooks - 2006 / 1427

  1. (showing mercy to animals): Sahih Muslim, Book 26, Hadith 5579 - Abu Hurraira reported Allah's Messanger (peace be upon him) as saying: "There was a dog moving around a well whom thirst would have killed. Suddenly a prostitute from the prostitutes of Bani Isra'il happened to see it and she drew water in her shoe and made it drink, and she was pardoned because of this." (return to 'showing mercy to animals' reference)
  2. (prohibition on keeping dogs in the house): Sahih Al Bukhari, Book 54, Hadith 541 - Narrated by Abu Huraira: If somebody keeps a dog, he loses one Qirat (reward) of his good deeds every day, except if he keeps it for the purpose of agriculture or the protection of livestock. (return to 'keeping dogs' reference)
  3. (Allah accepts repentance): The Holy Qur'an, 4:26 - Allah wishes to make clear to you, and to show you the ways of those before you, and accept your repentance, and Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise. (return to 'repentance' reference)
  4. Shahada: A declaration of faith, specifically "Ashadu Allah ilah ha illallah, Wa Ashadu ana Muhammadur Rasulullah" (I testify that there are no gods besides Allah, and I testify that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah). (return to 'shahada' reference)
  5. Shariah - Islamic law, derived from the Qur'an and Sunnah. The Shariah is final and absolute, and cannot be changed. (return to 'shariah' reference)
  6. Fard - Obligatory, such as the five daily prayers. (return to 'fard' reference)
  7. (prohibition on praying between Asr and Maghrib): Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book 10, Hadith 555 - The Prophet (SAW) forbade praying after the Fajr prayer until the sun rises, and after the 'Asr prayer until the sun sets. (return to 'Asr' reference)