Q.1. Islam allows Muslims to marry Christian and Jewish women without making a prerequisite for such women to become Muslim. Should a Christian woman who is married to a Muslim retain her faith, believing that Christ was God or son of God, she is guilty of associating partners with God. How can a Muslim man live with a wife knowing what her destination in the hereafter will be?

Q.2. The Qur’an is clear that Muslims may not take Jews and Christians, or non-believers for their friends and protectors. At present, we rely on the West for our security, education, economic development, etc. Please comment.

Q. 3. Please explain the Islamic system of government.

Q.4. What is the correct way of wearing ihraam garments during tawaf and prayer?

Zainul Irfan, Jeddah

A.1. I wonder how a Muslim can claim to know the destination of any person in the life to come. That is a matter known to God alone. The Prophet once told a lady companion of his when she commented that someone who had just died is assured of heaven: “How do you know? I am God’s messenger and I do not know what will happen to me.”

It is often the case that people speak of others, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, as though they are destined to heaven or hell. That sort of talk is totally unacceptable. It is a case of saying what we cannot substantiate in any way. Thus, it is a false claim and it is made against God. The fact is that the matter of the life to come, in its totality, belongs to God alone. No one has any knowledge of what may happen to any person there. Hence, it is the right course of action to pray God to accept us among His servants with whom He is pleased and never to make any claim about others.

If God has permitted something, it remains permissible. We should be grateful to Him for having made it permissible to us. Once we know that it is permissible, we may do it. We must not upbraid others for doing it, even if we feel that it is more appropriate to avoid it. As long as it is not pronounced by God as forbidden, we may not make a claim to its prohibition.

A.2. It is a sad state of affairs that Muslim countries are in a very weak state, having to rely on others for everything. Yet there is no reason why Muslim communities cannot improve their situation and achieve a good measure of true independence, not merely politically, but also in all their life matters. Indeed, they are required to do so, taking all necessary measures to achieve that. It applies to them as a collective obligation, or fardh kifayah. If they do not do it, they are all at fault. If some of them manage to do it, they relieve the rest of the community of the responsibility for failing to accomplish it.

A. 3. There is no set pattern of Islamic government, which means that there may be different systems of government which are all acceptable from the Islamic point of view. If you consider the choice of caliph in the early period of Islam, you will find that each one of the first five caliphs was chosen by a method different from the others, yet all of them are acceptable. What is important for a government to be Islamic is that it declares its commitment to Islam, and work for its implementation in a proper way, and that it relies on consultation in the decision-making process.

A. 4. A man who is in the state of consecration, or ihraam, must wear two garments which are untailored. He wraps one round his body from the waist down to well below his knees. The other he throws over his shoulders and brings it forward to cover the upper part of his body. People normally leave their right shoulders uncovered, but this is a mistake. Uncovering the right shoulder is recommended only during the first three rounds of the first tawaf, which is performed on arrival. In all other times, it is better to cover both shoulders.