Keep Your Distance!

Every parent loves his child and tries his best to keep his child safe from harm. Even in the home, the parent understands that the young toddler is exposed to certain dangers which threaten his safety. Plug points… detergents… knives and scissors… Swimming pools… These, and other similar things are common in many houses, yet pose a grave threat to the safety of the child.

Out of deep love for the child, and wishing well for the child, the parent firstly educates the child and tries to teach him that these things are dangerous. When the young child stretches his chubby and grubby fingers towards the detergent cupboard, the mother will raise her voice and call out in a stern tone, “NO! NAUGHTY!” Thereafter, if the child persists in trying to play with the dangerous item, she may even punish him.

However, a sensible, loving parent will not only suffice on teaching the child harm from benefit. For instance, the parent will not leave a knife within arm’s reach while telling the child, “Don’t touch.” Rather, the parent will also put into place preventative measures which will be conducive to the child’s safety.

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Leaving Islam due to Presumptions and Feelings

Question:

Assalaamu ‘alaikum

Respected ‘Ulama

Two years ago, a Christian girl reverted to Islam. We, the Muslim girls around her, welcomed her and supported her as much as we could. She was always known to read all her salaah. 

A day ago, we found out that she reverted back to Christianity. After asking her why she did so, this is the response we received: her grandfather, who is a Christian, fell ill recently. During his illness – which was concluded to be terminal – priests would visit him and pray for him. He was later cured and the doctors considered this a miracle. 

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Wholehearted or Unwilling?

Throughout the world, regardless of continent or culture, the symbol of the heart has come to represent love. Perhaps the reason for this is that true love entails complete surrender of the heart to the beloved. One voluntarily sets aside one’s own inclinations, preferences, ideas and aspirations, and wholeHEARTedly embraces the preferences of the beloved, hoping to secure his pleasure and happiness. In other words, one sheds his own identity and ego and molds himself in the mold of the beloved.

Imagine a husband and wife who live together, and go through the motions of married life, but do so grudgingly. Although each may fulfil the rights of the other, the spark in their relationship will swiftly fizzle out, causing it to turn into a relationship-wreck. Likewise, imagine an employee who obeys his employer, but pulls up his face, questions his authority at every turn, and considers his employer to be an inconvenience in his life. Obviously, though such an employee cannot technically be faulted, he will not be expected to last long in his position.

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Movies and Cartoons

Question:

Assalaamu ‘alaikum

Respected ‘Ulama

I was wondering, what are the spiritual and worldly harms of showing children/teens cartoons and movies etc.? Children watch cartoons such as Arthur and Wild Kratts on a daily basis, and movies such as Avengers once a week. What are the spiritual and worldly risks of these, and what are the rulings on both types of entertainment i.e. cartoons and movies?

Is it true that jinns can reside in these devices and in the movie characters and cause harm to the watchers?

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Be Sensor-ble!

Almost every machine has certain built-in sensors. The role of these sensors is to measure and monitor the readings of different aspects and accordingly regulate the functions in process, thus ensuring that the machine remains free of malfunctions. A typical example of this is a heat sensor (e.g. in a hair dryer) which prevents overheating by causing the machine to switch off when a certain temperature is exceeded.

In the absence of such sensors, or if these sensors have to be tampered with or overrode, the machines would severely malfunction, and ultimately, would suffer severe or even irreversible damage. Hence, these sensors are considered to be safety features, and their inclusion within a product is appreciated and causes the value of the product to increase.

It is for this reason that cars which are equipped with ‘lane assist’ sensors, and ‘PDC’ sensors etc. are more in demand and fetch a higher price.

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