Q. I am opposed to celebrating birthdays and anniversaries because this is an imported tradition. However, I am under pressure because people suggest that I hurt the feelings of my wife and little children when I deprive them of such a celebration. Please comment.
M.H. Ali
A. What is not allowed in Islam is to follow in the footsteps of unbelievers in their customs and traditions, feeling that they are superior, or that it is good to be like them. But this does not mean that everything they have or do is bad, or that we should not learn from them what is beneficial or useful. We may adapt that to what is suitable to us.
A birthday is an occasion that can be marked in a variety of ways. There is nothing in Islam to prevent celebrating such an occasion, provided that the celebration is not done strictly in imitation of unbelievers. Thus, if you invite some children from your son’s or daughter’s school or play group and organize some games and serve some sweets and exchange gifts, there is nothing in that to object to. If you add something useful such as reading some stories from the time of the Prophet and his companions, if that is suitable to the age group of your child, then that is commendable. You can easily find something to add which would enhance the children’s knowledge of Islam. If you do, your marking of your child’s birthday would be a highly profitable occasion.
A wedding anniversary is a special occasion for a married couple. Marking it in a way that does not involve any un-Islamic practice is permissible, provided that you are doing it with the intention of giving your wife something pleasant and thanking God for a happy marriage. If you start your marking of the day with a prayer to God to grant both of you more happiness in your married life, then you do well. The fact that anniversaries and birthdays are marked in non-Muslim countries in a way that is unacceptable to Islam does not mean that we should follow their practice. We can mark our occasions in our own way, which should always be within the limits God has set.
The Effect of Prayers
Q.1. Could something that we are destined to encounter be changed as a result of our prayers? Say, if one is destined to have a serious illness, and he prays to God to keep him in good health and spare him all serious illness, can this be answered?
Q.2. I have about 300 grams of gold. If I want to pay zakah what value should I take? If I am to buy such gold it will be SR42 per gram, but if I am selling, it will be SR32.
Q.3. If one misses the Qunoot in witr, one should offer two prostrations before the end of prayer. If one is praying according to the Hanafi school, and one forgets the Qunoot but remembers it while he is bowing, can he do it when he rises from bowing?
M. S.
A.1. Yes, God may accept our prayer and grant us what we ask for. He will then change what He had written in order to give us what we have requested. God says in the Qur’an: “God may annul or confirm whatever He wills.” (13: 39) But the change is known to God in the first place. He knows that a person will pray Him sincerely, and that He will change what is written in answer to that prayer.
A.2. If you are speaking of a woman’s jewelry, then no zakah is payable on that. I suspect this is the case because of the difference of price you have mentioned. Bullion gold, i.e. gold that is neither coined nor manufactured, does not show such discrepancy between buying and selling.
A.3. The Qunoot is a Sunnah, which means that if one forgets it, the prayer is valid. It is better to offer two prostrations before the end to compensate for it, but if one does not do that, it is appropriate. According to the Hanafi school of Fiqh, it is done in the third rak’ah of witr, before bowing, or rukuo. However, it is done after it according to other schools. So, if you do it after rukuo, it will be appropriate according to those schools.
Birth Control Methods
Q. Is it permissible for a man or a woman to use birth control methods, such as the condom or the pill?
S. Akhtar
Riyadh
A. There are several Hadiths that suggest that some of the Prophet’s companions resorted to methods of birth control, either asking the Prophet directly about their permissibility, or knowing that he was aware of it. In all such Hadiths, the Prophet did not object. His attitude was that people may resort to such methods but whatever they do will not affect God’s will. If God wills that a child is born to a family, that child will be born no matter what method of contraception was used. Needless to say, the methods known at the time were very simple, but the same ruling applies to the more sophisticated methods available today.
There are different reasons why a couple may wish to reduce the number of children they wish to have. Most important of these are health reasons, whether these affect the mother or her existing children. But even if the reason is simply to delay having children, or birth spacing, the use of contraceptive methods, such as the condom or the pill, is permissible. However, it should be done with proper medical advice to ensure that the method used is safe for the couple, particularly the woman.
Arab News Islam 2 May 2003
