• Pledges: Made to Allah and attached conditionalities
It is a practice that people make a solemn intention that they will do this or that if certain wishes of theirs are granted by Allah. Is this permissible in the first place? If so, how does it vary from asking Allah to fulfill for us certain favors, without making such a pledge? What sort of pledges are preferred?
A pledge of the type you describe is known in Islamic technology as "nathr". That is different from "Niyyah," which means intention. Nathr is a pledge. You express in words your resolve that you will fulfill or do something, such as fasting any number of days, or giving to the poor certain amount of money, or offering three hours of night worship, etc. Here you are committing yourself to doing any of these action upon the fulfillment of a certain wish you have in mind. Niyyah, as it is used in Arabic, is making up one's mind to do something, whether that is dependent on the fulfillment of something else or not. It has a much wider usage and it applies to everything. That is what is meant by the Hadith which states "actions are but by intentions." It means that the value of a certain action we do is determined by the intention behind it. If someone attends congregational prayer in the mosque regularly in order to give the neighborhood a certain impression of himself, his action is not as another who attends congregational prayer less frequently but has no aim behind it other than obeying Allah and His messenger.
There is another difference between a pledge, or nathr, and an intention, or niyyah. A pledge must be fulfilled once it is made. It becomes a debt owed to Allah by the person who has pledged it. If you do not fulfill it, you will be questioned by Allah about it. The reason is that you have volunteered such a pledge and this cannot be done in jest.
Therefore, fulfillment is required as a duty. An intention is different in the sense that if you do not fulfill it, you are not held to account for that. If it is a good action that you have intended, you are awarded for carrying it out. If you do not do it, you lose that reward but you incur no sin.
People make such pledges because they believe that by making them, they stand a better chance of having their wishes fulfilled. That is not true. Making a pledge to fast, or pray, or do whatever, does not get them any nearer to having their wishes fulfilled. Allah does not need our worship so that He fulfill our wishes if we offer more worship to Him. It is far better to pray Allah to grant us whatever wishes we want to be accomplished, provided that they are not sinful.
We should remember that He can grant us whatever wish we may have. His bounty is without limits. When we implore Him confirming our obedience to Him and submission to His will, He answers our prayer. Then, when our wishes are fulfilled, we express our gratitude to Him by voluntarily doing what he likes us to do. We can prostrate ourselves before Him in gratitude, and that is known as a "sajdah of thanks," (or "Sajdae shukr") or we can give something to charity or fast, or do similar actions of worship.
• Plucking of hair of eyebrows
I heard from a friend that plucking of hair of eyebrows or facial hair is not allowed in Islam. May I ask whether it is prohibited or discouraged?
Thinning eyebrows or changing their shape is forbidden in Islam. The Prophet has cursed the woman who does it to other women and the one who requests such an action. The prohibition is emphasized if such an action is the practice of women who indulge in indecent conduct.
However, plucking of facial hair by a woman is permissible, particularly if the hair so plucked is considered unsightly.
It may be useful to point out another unacceptable practice which relates to a woman's appearance. This is the elongation of hair by using somebody else's hair or artificial hair. Again, the Prophet curses the woman who does it and the one who requests it. This includes the usage of a wig to change one's appearance.
• Poets — description of poets in the Qur'an
Is it permissible to read literary works such as novels, plays, short stories, poems, etc.? The subject matter of such works may be fictitious. If you say it is permissible, how can we reconcile this permissibility with the description of poets in the Qur'an?
Let me begin by referring to the description of poets in the Qur'an, because many people tend to think that Islam discourages poetry and support their view by referring to this description. Allah says at the end of the surah entitled "Poets" that poets are normally followed by people who go astray because poets are given to exaggeration and they profess things that they do not do and preach what they do not practice. However, an exception is made in the case of those who "believe and do righteous deeds and remember Allah frequently and (use their talent) to avenge injustice." Therefore, we cannot say that Islam discourages poetry altogether. It discourages the sort of vain poetry which many Arab poets in pre-Islamic days used to favor.
On the other hand, we find that the Prophet referred approvingly to certain types of poetry. He listened attentively to Ka'ab ibn Zuhair, when he recited his poems, before his declaring his change of attitude towards the Prophet and toward Islam. The poem begins with a few lines in which the poet mentions his beloved girl and how he misses her after she departed with her family. This was in line with all Arabic poetry of the time. Moreover, the Prophet encouraged Hassan ibn Thabit, a famous poet, to reply to the campaign of abuse which Quraish poets had launched. Indeed, poetry was an important weapon in the campaign against polytheism in the early Islamic periods. Islam indeed encourages literature and the Prophet describes fine style as particularly attractive.
What may classify certain books as reprehensible or even forbidden to read is their subject matter and the way it is treated. We can put a rule that any work which is intended to encourage sinful practices or bring out something foul or evil in the reader or in society is either reprehensible or forbidden to read, according to its effect. Otherwise, it is perfectly permissible to read literary works.