AStruggler

Don't have a fatwa or anything, but I thought women can't do buzz cuts. When it says shortening, I guess it means a women cutting her hair from being long to less long, but ultimately it's still long-looking/female-looking. Probably best to just ask a Shaykh.

This is also another very fascinating hadith (Al Kafi Book of Taharah) 15. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Fadalah from ‘Abd Allah ibn Sinan who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘Once my father took Ghusl (bath) because of sexual relation. Someone said to him that water has not reached to a spot on his back. He said, “It was not necessary for you to inform me. (I wish) you sought to have remained quiet.” He then wiped that spot with his hand.’” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (3/138)

Found these ahadith from Thaqalayn.org 's al Kafi Book of Taharat Vol 3 super interesting: 1. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Yunus from al-‘Ala’ from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘One of you in order to rub oil on his body covers his whole body with an amount of oil on his palm. Water, however, is more plentiful than this.” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (13/66) 2. Ali ibn Ibrahim has narrated from his father and Muhammad ibn ’Isma‘il from al-Fadl ibn Shadhan from Hammad from Hariz from Zurarah and Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘Wudu’ is one of the boundaries Allah has established so that He finds out who obeys or disobeys Him. The believing people do not allow it (their body) to remain unclean. It is sufficient to use a small amount of water like rubbing oil on one’s body.’” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: حسن كالصحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (13/67) 3. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad and abu Dawud all from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Fadalah ibn Dawud ibn Farqad who has said the following: “I once heard abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, say, ‘My father would say, “Wudu has certain limits. If one trespasses such limits, he will not receive any reward.” My father would also say, “(Certain people) only make it perplexed.’” A man then asked, ‘What then are the limits of Wudu’?’ He (the Imam) said, ‘Wash your face and hands and wipe your head and feet.’” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (3/67) 5. Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, from Safwan, from ‘Ala’ ibn Razin, from Muhammad ibn Muslim who has said the following: “I once asked abu ‘Abd Allah or abu Ja‘far, ‘Alayhim al-Salam, about how much water is needed for Ghusl (bath) because of sexual relations. He (the Imam) said, ‘The Messenger of Allah would use five handfuls of water, share it with his partner, and both of them would take Ghusl (bath) from the same water container.’” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (13/68) 7. A number of our people have narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from al-Husayn ibn Sa‘id from Fadalah ibn Ayyub from Jamil from Zurarah who has said the following: “Abu Ja‘far, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘It is sufficient for Wudu’ to allow water to touch your skin (of the parts to be washed for Wudu’).”’ Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: صحيح - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (13/68) 9. Ali ibn Muhammad and others have narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Shammun from Hammad ibn ‘Isa from Hariz who has said the following: “Abu ‘Abd Allah, ‘Alayhi al-Salam, has said, ‘Allah has an angel who writes down one’s acting excessively or transgressing limits.’” Grading: Allamah Baqir al-Majlisi: سكت عنه - Mir‘at al ‘Uqul Fi Sharh Akhbar Al al Rasul (3/69) ...

Wudhu: probably around 1 min. Ghusl: I used to take long too, but now, just the ghusl time (excluding normal shower time) for me is about 3-7 minutes. I still feel I take up too much time and water in the shower so am still working on reducing it. Btw, I pretty much asked this question to the office of Ayatollah Sistani a few years back and got this answer: In the Name of God, the Most High 1. It should not take you more than 10 minutes. One can perform ghusl in just 3 minutes or even less. 2. If you make water reach your head and neck and then your body, it would suffice. It is not necessary to use soap or shampoo to perform an obligatory ghusl. 3. One can use a jug of water to make his body wet because it is not necessary to make the water flow off the body. May Allah grant you success.

Haha man, I went through this dilemma too. It is indeed an annoying and confusing issue. I asked a few Shaykhs and ended up settling with the answer below, may Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) forgive me if I'm wrong: In wudu, when you get to washing that part, place that part under/inside kurr water and then wipe that area while it's under/inside the kurr water. So personally, when I get to the affected area, I place that inside the running stream of tap water and also quickly wipe it while the area is inside the stream of the kur water. Note: if the area dries out and clots into a scab, so there's no more bleeding/fresh blood, then as the brother above said, you can just do normal wudu.

That and it seems he's made way too many haram things halal, idk what he even coniders haram tbh. Idk how a believer is to be tested if everything is fine and good. And I haven't seen too many of his recent videos, but based on the older ones, his behaviour and humour, as funny as it might be at times, is also sometimes indecent and inappropriate. Also felt he's somewhat biased and inconsistent with his approach at times.

Woah, will that really happen? Any sources?

Islam places a lot of importance on maintaing healthy ties with the kin and I believe even moreso with specifically the parents. If I'm not wrong, more than once in the Quran, Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) talks about parents right after He talks about Tawhid... Being kind and loving towards the parents and not causing them distress/displeasure is important in Islam, so I think we should strive to follow this so long as we're not violating the holy laws of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) (as we're to disregard what the parents are saying if they want us to oppose the divine laws of Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) - but of course, we should be kind at it). If you can attend without consuming alcohol (and without sitting on a table where alcohol is being consumed by others), pork, non-halal meat, and also without engaging in haram activites (e.g. jamming to innapropriate/haram music, gambling, dancing (especially with non-mahram women)), then I don't think it should be an issue at all. If it's just a casual family get-together where you exchange gifts and spend time with one another, it sounds quite fine to me. As for pitching in to buy a gift for your parents, I think it's a good thing. Intention counts a lot too. Now I don't really know what exactly Islamic scholars have to say about christmas, but you could make the intention to buy a gift to be kind to your parents as Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) instructs us to be kind to our parents. Also, you may enjoy this YouTube channel by another fellow revert brother from Canada: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuQJjxZ0-gIXlfR6R0r3Zow

Do you mean video editing softwares? I've heard that the ones by Adobe are quite popular.

Missed this earlier. Thanks for your post, it was definitely helpful and insightful! Would be interesting if someone could also post the views of the maraje on this too.

I found the video below helpful. Watch the whole thing if you decide to watch.

Came across this interesting Ayah today from surah 58, al-Mujadila: You will not find a people believing in Allah and the Last Day endearing those who oppose Allah and His Apostle even though they were their own parents, or children, or brothers, or kinsfolk. [For] such, He has written faith into their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. He will admit them into gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever], Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him. They are Allah’s confederates. Look! The confederates of Allah are indeed felicitous! (22)

Petty name calling was never part of our religion. People do all sorts of things. The concept of "tabarra" is part of our religion.

Why, what's wrong with protein powder? @Mark Enlightment

Salaam brother, may I ask, what is you educational background in the Quran and the seerah of the Ahle Bayth (a)? Because you seem to really know it in and out? (Anyway, I'm not disagreeing that our supplications are to Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى), but I believe we can use intermediaries). With a lot of respect, I feel like that you're potentially misguiding people with your continuous tawassul bashing. This isn't some insignificant "modern day trend". Things are not that black and white. Many of our top 'ulama and even the 'ulema of other sects have practiced it and are continuing to practice it. Many of the great jurists, exegetes, and even the Muslim philosophers, who were the champions of intellect, have endorsed it. Do you think you're more rational than them? It's really only the salafi-wahabi movement and some modern-ignorant-fringe shia reformist groups that have been aggressively spreading propaganda against it. I invite you to skip to and watch the lecture in the below video, delivered by a very well respected Shaykh in the English speaking community. Although it's a concise and simplified lecture at the level of an average Muslim immigrant community audience in the West (and the Shaykh himself has expressed this, stating that there's a lot more intellectual dicussion surrounding this topic), I found that it was still very insightful and well done. It takes into account a lot of the issues that people have with this topic. If you still insist on your anti-tawassul position then I respectfully and kindly think it's best that you take upon silence in this regard, because most of our scholars and even scholars of the other sect, have deemed it a valuable practice. You would just be breeding confusion and other forms of conflict in the uninformed. Of course, the practice should not be abused and done improperly though.