The Light

Salam, Let's not be fooled by titles and such. The 313 of badr is something widely believed by all Muslims. I highly doubt the 313 will be only from one ethnicity, in this case Pashtuns. Not to forget, the 313 will be the best of the best, how can we expect a group who are racist to the core, and have committed heinous crimes against the Shia be helpers of the Mahdi (عليه السلام).

Salam, For those of you who don't know, tabeedh, unlike taqlid, is following more than one marja It's been quite some time, I've been thinking why we are stuck with the taqlid of one marja. For example, I follow ayt. Sistani in fiqh, and I want to follow someone else besides him who is of equal status in knowledge according to the "ahlul-khibra", In my case I've heard ayt. Khamanai being that marja. What if there are things that sayed Sistani doesn't allow at all, while sayed Khamanai allows it and makes life much easier. After all, why do we Shias even combine prayers? It's because Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) allowed it and as the prophet (s) said "that Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) doesn't want hardship for us in religion". I think this would be interesting to discuss.

Thanks for your reply. I suppose they should just do that and explain the situation to them.

Salam, I am posting on behalf of a relative, and they don't know English, so they asked me if I can help them find answers. My relative had some land a few years ago, they spent a lot of money on the land in terms of planting trees, maintenance etc. The land went up in value and sold it, because times were hard and kept it for living expenses. A year had passed since the selling of the land, and they still had a surplus of the money remaining after their yearly expenses. Now, because they had spent a lot of money on the land apart from its purchasing price, they're not sure if the value increase would be considered capital gain. The confusing part for them is on what do they need to calculate the khums: 1- the whole selling value of the land sold? 2- on the capital gain, if there was any if the actual expense of maintaining is deductible? 3- Or the surplus of the money he kept after one year? I tried contacting ayt. Sistani's office, but didn't get a sufficient answer. All they said khums is applicable. The other problem they have is, since this was a few years ago, for some reason they thought khums was not applicable on this, and now as times are difficult, they can't afford to pay the khums if number 1 and 2 are applicable. Can they pay it in smaller amounts throughout their life? Thanks in advance.

I agree with you to some extent. With the exception of law, one should go to university only if it's a STEM degree. "cheaper institutions" are usually of low standard, and majority of internships require you be in your final year of study or a fresh graduate.

Btw, I emailed Najaf.org website directly, and this is their response: "It is permissible to take money from the bank that is financed by non-Muslim government or private funds but not with intention of loan. The knowledge that the bank will sooner or later force him to pay the capital as well as the interest does not affect [ the lawfulness of ] his taking the money". So, it's basically the same as what Moalfas stressed on, the intention is the key here.

Thank you.

A lot of people like myself, need to go through formal education to get to where they want to be. Especially if it's a technical field. Some careers require you to have a degree of some sort, otherwise you cannot get your foot into the door. Or at the very least, it's very difficult. If you're saying, 'well there's a million things you can do to provide sustenance for yourself', then I would say that's not feasible in this era. Not everyone has the aptitude or means to run a successful business. Sure, I'd love to be my own boss. I tried, but I never succeeded.

Thanks for the answer, It clears out most of my questions. This is the part where we have to investigate more. I don't think education can be considered urgent, but it is important for using it to have better career prospects and provide for one's family.

Salam, I'm seeing conflicting views on this matter, so I want to become 100% certain before making a decision. What is Ayatallah Sistani's ruling on getting student loan from the government, with the conditions that: 1- You don't need to start paying the debt until after you graduate. 2- You don't pay anything until your income goes over a certain threshold. 3- It only covers the tuition fee and not mainetenance, eg cost of living. 4- After 30 years, the outstanding balance will be written off, regardless of how much is left. 5- Interest accrues from the first payment the government sends to the university. Also another question, regarding khums. In some other threads, I read that I need to pay khums on student loan? Cause the government doesn't pay the loan directly to my account, but rather directly to the university. This could be applicable in the case of maintenance loans? I need to make a quick decision, that's why I didn't ask directly from their website. Thanks for taking the time to read it.

Ok, I think I found some rule that gives some permission. There's a Q & A in Ayt. Sistani's code of practice, work and investment section, question 288: "288. Question: Is a muslim allowed to work in grocery stores that sell liquor in one of its sections, and his work is only as a cashier? Answer: He is allowed to receive the price of the items other than liquor and also the price of liquor, if the buyers are non-Muslims." Is there a contradiction or am I missing a point, in where "liquor" is different than alcohol or "receiving price" means something else?

Thanks for your answer, but this doesn't directly answer the question. When someone works in a retail store, the only purpose of that store is not to sell only alcohol, but everything. Alcohol only is a small percentage of items that are sold. In addition, the cashier only handles the monetary transactions, and he/she does not profit from that which is sold, but only works for a salary. It's better to ask a marjaa regarding these issues.

What about someone who works as a cashier in a retail store, which sells alcohol alongside other normal products? Is that job problematic?

Of course. No doubt about that.

Yeah, I was also thinking about contradiction. It also contradicts the belief itself that in even the lowest level of Jannah, every believer will have a kingdom of his/her own.