A Nafil is an act of worship done because it has been suggested to us by the Prophet and practiced by him on one or two occasions. [Added: It earns a reward and its omission does not incur any punishment.]
• Names of children, and when a change becomes necessary
My 13-year-old daughter's name, Julisha, has been criticized by our neighbors as being a Christian name. This has caused her much worry. Is it essential to change it according to Islam?
The Prophet did not change the name of any of his companions unless there was a very good reason for such a change. Generally speaking, the change was caused either by the name being symbolic of beliefs which are contrary to Islam or its having a very bad meaning. For example, if a companion of the Prophet was called Abduluzza, which meant that he was servant of the well known idol called Aluzza, the Prophet changed that name to Abdullah or Abdurrahman, which meant that the person concerned was a servant of Allah or a servant of the Merciful, who is Allah.
I am not sure that the name "Julisha" has any strong association with the Christian faith, unless it is so in your part of the world. The name "Julia" is a well known Christian name, but not "Julisha". Besides, is it a name so identifiable with Christianity, to the extent that the person who hears it would immediately say that the holder is a Christian girl? Apparently not, because if it was, you would have not given it to your daughter. On the other hand, is it a common name in your part of the world? If so, then it could be used by followers of different religions. In this case, you certainly need not change it. You should be guided in this respect by the Prophet's action, which shows that a change of name is needed when the name indicates or promotes beliefs other than those of Islam.
• NASA — the United States Space Agency
The United States Space Agency, NASA, speaks of extra-terrestrial life which may be encountered away from our universe. Is this true? What does Islam say about life in outer space?
What space programs are speaking about at the present stage is exploration of the solar system which is a small part of our galaxy. As you realize, the earth is only one planet in our solar system which has a number of planets such as Venus, Mars and Saturn. Some of these plants have moons of their own, in the same way as the earth has its moon. Distance between these planets extends to millions of miles. Nevertheless, the whole solar system is only a small portion of the galaxy. The universe includes millions and millions of galaxies, each one of them having millions of suns and solar systems. When we imagine such a vast existence, we can speak of outer space. But outer space is part of the one universe which includes all these galaxies.
When you imagine such an almost endless universe, you can easily conclude that it is possible to have life in other parts of it. Indeed, it is only a manifestation of the greatness of Allah and His power of creation that life be present in other planets and solar systems in a variety of forms. Allah has not chosen to tell us about these forms of life because such knowledge would not benefit us in the fulfillment of the task He has assigned to us, namely, to build human life on earth. Moreover, it may be very difficult for us to imagine the existence of other types of life, since we do not have a chance to know them at a close distance.