Q.1. Is it obligatory for a Muslim woman to cover her face when she goes out?
Q.2. It is well-known that the people of Makkah were idolaters before the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent to them. Were the Prophet’s parents and grandparents also unbelievers?
Q.3. Is it permissible for a Muslim to eat at a non-Muslim friend’s house if he is offered meat slaughtered in sacrifice to the deity worshipped by that friend?
R. Farheen
Madinah
A.1. Muslim women are not required to cover their faces or their hands when they go out. If they do, that is up to them, but the Islamic requirement is that a woman should cover all her body with the exception of her face and hands, up to her wrists. People who claim that these parts should also be covered do not provide strong enough evidence in support of their claims.
A.2. The overwhelming majority of the people of Makkah were idolaters before the Prophet Muhammad was sent to them with God’s message. Some individuals questioned the validity of idol worship and felt that this could not be a true religion. Some travelled far and wide in pursuit of the true religion. Some simply rejected idol worship without finding an alternative. However, many of the Arabs at the time felt that their idols were merely an intermediary between them and God. They realized that God is far above all those they worshipped, but they thought they needed these in order to draw them closer to God.
There is nothing particularly authentic about the faith followed by the Prophet’s parents and grandfather. It is said that the Prophet’s grandfather, Abd Al-Muttalib, believed that God is one. This is perhaps taken on the basis of his encounter with Abrahah, the army commander who tried to destroy the Kaabah. When Abrahah was amazed that Abd Al-Muttalib did not plead with him to spare the Kaabah and expressed his feeling of amazement, Abd al-Muttalib said to him: “This House of worship has its Lord who will protect it.” When he left him, he went with some Arab notables to the Kaabah and prayed hard to God appealing to Him to defend His house of worship.
Abd Al-Muttalib died when the Prophet was only eight years of age. As for the Prophet’s parents, his father died before he was born, and he was six when his mother died. As such, none of them will be held to account for not believing in God’s oneness, because the message did not reach them. God does not punish anyone for not believing in him unless His message has been conveyed to that person.
A.3. God states clearly in the Qur’an that “He has only forbidden you carrion, blood and the flesh of swine, as well as anything that is slaughtered in the name of anyone other than God.” As such a sacrifice offered to an idol, a deity or a person may not be eaten by a Muslim, regardless of who is the slaughterer and the method of slaughter. The answer to the case cited by the reader is a definite prohibition.
Arab News Islam 27 December 2002