Ablution: Nothing Embarrassing About It

 A friend of mine goes to a non-Muslim school. He wants to offer his prayers there, but he has a problem of wind discharge and he is embarrassed to do the ablutions at school.

 I am not sure whether it is the wind problem or the embarrassment of being seen doing the ablution that causes this young man to postpone his prayers till he gets home. Most probably it is the latter. Hence, he should try hard to adopt the proper attitude of feeling proud to be a Muslim. Once he feels that and realizes that his faith, based on God's absolute oneness, is superior to any other religion, he will find no problem with doing the ablution or offering his prayer in public place, where he is seen by non-Muslim. In fact, when he does that a couple of times, all embarrassment will have disappeared, particularly when he realizes that people of other religions respect him for being religious and mindful of his religious duties.

Ablution: Touching a Woman & Validity of Ablution

When one is doing tawaf with his wife, it is very likely that they may touch each other. The ablution is invalidated if they are followers of Shaf'ie school of thought. It is permissible for them to intend doing the tawaf according to another school of thought?

The best way out of this difficulty to which the reader refers is to study the opinion of all schools of thought on this point and their evidence in support of their respective views. When one does that, he may very likely conclude that a different opinion is more strongly supported. It is not right to take the opinion of a different school of thought only because it is convenient. On this point I support the view which considers ablution invalidated on touching a woman if the contact is accompanied with a feeling of desire. If there is no feeling related to the sexual desire, then the contact does not invalidate ablution.

Abortion: Deliberate - At An Early Stage

A relative of mine underwent an abortion before she completed 40 days of pregnancy. That was the result of going through much pressure at the time. But both she and her husband have regretted what they did and they pray repeatedly for God's forgiveness. Is there any compensation to give?

Deliberate abortion is a very serious matter. Abortion is permissible only when the pregnancy, if continued, is likely to expose the life of the mother to serious risks. Other situations are treated according to circumstance. When there is no serious medical cause for terminating a pregnancy, then it must not be terminated. Poverty, lack of help, a large family, etc. are no grounds for taking a life that God has created. Some scholars suggest that pregnancy termination is not forbidden, if done in the very early period, like in the case of our reader's cousin, but they have no solid evidence to support their view. They rely on the Hadith, which mentions that the soul is breathed into the fetus after 4 months of pregnancy, and consider this as the start of life. But their argument is weak and unsupported. Right from the moment of conception, a potential life has come into existence, and it is forbidden to terminate it except for medical reasons. In the case we have here, repentance and seeking God's forgiveness is what the couple should do. Their repentance should be truly genuine and they must resolve not to revert to such an action again. Having said that, I should add that if the couple feel that they do not want to have children because of their difficult circumstances, they should resort to contraception. Once a pregnancy has taken place, it must not be terminated.

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