Q. It is well known that Islam allows marriage between Muslim men and women of Christian and Jewish faiths. However, nowadays some Muslim men are marrying Hindu women without the woman declaring her belief in Islam first. Could you please clarify whether this type of marriage is acceptable under any circumstances? What about the children born in such a marriage?

M. A. Rathore, Riyadh

A. It is as you say: marriage with a Christian or Jewish woman is permissible, although not recommended, but marriage with a woman of a non-divine faith is not. Hence, for a Muslim man to marry a Hindu woman is unacceptable from the Islamic point of view. The marriage is null and void. So the relationship is an illegitimate one, even though the law of the country in which the parties live may sanction it.

The point we have to understand is that marriage must be a legitimate relation. It can only be so if it is done according to the rules God has laid down. It is not for anyone to amend or change these rules. Hence, if the law permits relations that Islam does not permit, the law is wrong and must not be obeyed by Muslims.

If the father continues to profess that he is a Muslim, the children born in such a marriage follow his religion. They are not responsible for their parents’ behavior, but they should be brought up as Muslims.

Which cause for zakah?

Q.1. I hope to be able to call my parents to come over for pilgrimage this year, God willing. However, I am wondering which is the better way to spend the money: to call them over when they do not have the means to travel at their own expense or to use zakah money to help one of the many causes Muslims have these days, such as helping the Muslim fighters in Palestine, Chechnya, Afghanistan, or helping organizations providing relief for Muslim refugees, or working in the field of Islamic advocacy?

Q.2. If a person has just about enough to cover his pilgrimage expenses, is it better to use the money for pilgrimage or to help Muslims in his poor country in very useful ways, such as providing education for children in a poor village or to start a project to provide safe drinking water?

S. Tanwir, Jeddah

A.1. One of my learned teachers used to give us this example: heaven is like a garden full of ripe fruit trees, cool water and plenty of shade. It has many doors and gates, but entry is allowed for a short period of time after which all doors are closed. On a very hot day, many people in the desert outside are trying to get in. If they all seek to enter through one of its doors, only a small portion of them will get through and many will be left out in the heat. If they spread themselves and use all doors they may all be admitted.

He used to say that the doors and gates to heaven are numerous. Voluntary worship, such as prayer, fasting and charity, as well as jihad, in its broadest sense of striving for God’s cause, pilgrimage, and helping other people with their needs, are all gates opening the way into heaven.

If we all concentrate our efforts on one of these areas, we do well, but we neglect other important issues. Therefore, we may help each other so that different people seek to serve the overall Islamic cause in different ways.

All the causes you have mentioned are good and noble. Spending money to help in any of them will earn generous reward from God, if He so pleases. Therefore, do not hesitate to help in whichever cause to which you feel more attached. However, helping a Muslim in urgent need, such as the refugees from conflict areas such as Afghanistan or the victims of Israeli aggression is far more urgent than helping the general Islamic advocacy work. If you have plenty of money to give away, you will do well to divide it in a way where you help three or four, or even more of the causes you have mentioned. On the other hand, if you have only a small amount, then you have to consider the one which needs more urgent help.

Calling your parents to perform the pilgrimage has the added advantage of being an act of dutifulness which earns rich reward from God, particularly if they have not done the pilgrimage earlier. You cannot use your zakah for this purpose, because zakah may not be given to those whom you are required to support. These include your children and your parents and grandparents.

However, when you have paid for their pilgrimage, you have less zakat to pay, as the expenses you pay are not liable to zakah. As for your other question in this area, it is much better that they should come to pilgrimage themselves than for another person to do it on their behalf. Substitute pilgrimage is possible for those who died without having fulfilled the duty of pilgrimage, or those who have the financial means but are too weak or ill to be able to stand the difficulties of the journey.

A.2. The pilgrimage is a personal duty we owe to God. Therefore, it must be done as soon as one is able to do it physically and financially. Helping in the causes you have mentioned is a collective duty incumbent on the whole Muslim community. Therefore, if one has the means only to cover his pilgrimage expenses, he should offer the pilgrimage. If he has more, then he can help in the different causes of the Muslim community.

A problem with bad thoughts

Q. For the last seven years I have had a problem with bad thoughts that force themselves on my mind. These are always about God, the Prophet, my parents, the Qur’an, etc. They are so bad that I feel that God will never forgive me for having them. I often feel I would rather die to escape the misery that they cause me. I try hard to maintain my prayer, even when the thoughts cause me great anxiety and depression. I often read the Qur’an, and I have consulted scholars and tried what they told me to do, and I have seen some doctors who prescribed some expensive medicines, but still the problem persists. What I am worried about is that how far does it affect my faith? Am I a believer or not? What should I do?

(Name and address withheld)

A. The first thing I would like to say to this reader is that he is certainly a believer, and he must never entertain any thought that he is not. Let this aspect remain far removed from his very real problem. These thoughts, whatever they may be, do not, in any way, take him out of the fold of Islam. He must always remain conscious of this fact, because it is the first element in his recovery, God willing. This means that he should continue to offer his prayers regularly, even if a prayer is due when he is having an attack of such bad thoughts, and even if the thought is related to God. He must resist it and tell himself that he continues to believe in God and that he wants to earn God’s pleasure.

Secondly, his condition is an illness referred to in medical language as OCD. It affects a percentage of people all over the world. It is treatable and controllable. For the best treatment, he needs medication and a program of therapy. In the overwhelming majority of cases, medication is not sufficient on its own. It should be combined with a therapy program. I realize that he has consulted doctors, but I am not sure he has seen the right specialist. He should see a psychiatrist who has had some experience in this area. He should not be ashamed of having this problem, because it is beyond his control. Moreover, he must not entertain any idea that this is a sort of madness, because it is not. It is simply a psychological problem which can be treated and overcome, with God’s help. It is important to realize that psychological problems are becoming highly important as more and more people are suffering from them. This is partly due to the type of life we now live. Depression is set to become the most prevalent disease all over the world.

When we seek God’s help over a particular problem, we need to do whatever we can to help. In problems of physical health, we need to take our medication as well as pray to God to grant us recovery. We need to do the same when we suffer from psychological problems. Hence, my reader needs to see his psychiatrist and continue to appeal to God for help. The two should go hand in hand. May God grant him speedy recovery.

The reader who has forwarded this question may kindly contact us on [email protected] for further advice.