Aborting a Pregnancy for Purely Medical Reasons.
Q.1.If it is confirmed that a pregnancy will result in the
child having a serious mental disorder,such as the Down
Syndrome,is it permissible for the mother to resort to
abortion?

A.1. Abortion is allowed in Islam only when there is
serious risk to the life of the mother or the child, or
serious health risk to the mother. This applies at any time
during the pregnancy. If the health risk is to the child
only and the case is confirmed in the early period of
pregnancy, a number of scholars would say that it is
permissible to abort, provided that the pregnancy is less
than 120 days. The majority of scholars, however, do not
allow abortion in such cases, on grounds that medical
research could still make advancements and could be able in
future to cure the abnormality. Besides, it is not for us
to decide which life is worth preserving or not. Medical
research has made some advancement in dealing with diseases
such as the Down Syndrome, and it could make further
advancements at any time. So, why should it be left to a
human being, whose knowledge is limited to the present, to
decide to terminate a pregnancy on account of its having a
risk of some mental disorder?
Having said that,I should add that there can be no single
answer to cover all cases.In fact,every case should be
dealt with on its own,taking into account all relevant
information and all factors that may have a bearing on its
outcome.When abortion is advised by medical experts looking
at a particular case, scholars have to be consulted to
determine whether abortion is permissible in that case or
not.
****You may benefit greatly by consulting the following
books 1. "What does Islam say? written by Ibrahim Hewitt
published by The Muslim Educational Trust,130 Stroud Green
Road,London,N4 3RZ,UK
Telephone: 0207 272 8502,Fax:0207 281 3457
 ISBN: 0 907261 34 5 price :£2.00
2.The Holy Quran and Contemporary Issues by Professor Abdul
Karim Bangura,published by iUniverse,Inc
2021 Pine Lake Road,Suite 100,Lincoln,NE 68512,USA
ISBN:0-595-29022-1 Price:£12.99($14.99)www.iuniverse.com


Should Women Go to Mosques?
Q. I read that women are permitted to go to a mosque in the
same way as men. However, most mosques are not built with
separate quarters for women. They have the same passage,
and men have a full view of the women's part. Hence, some
men, particularly young ones, go there to have a chance to
look at women. Should it not be ruled that women should not
go to mosques?

A. The Prophet (peace be upon him) says: "Do not prevent
women servants of God from attending God's houses of
worship." If we were to issue a ruling suggesting that
women should not go to mosques, then we will be doing the
exact opposite of what the Prophet says. Disobedience of
the Prophet's orders is absolutely wrong and puts us in
risk of incurring God's displeasure.

When we speak of women's quarters in mosques, we note that
there is a simple code which Islam requires. This makes a
congregational prayer with one imam, and the men's rows in
the front, followed by the children's rows and women's rows
in the back. There need be no physical separation. If you
notice there is no such separation in the Grand Mosque in
Makkah or in the Prophet's mosque in Madinah. This
arrangement does not reflect any superiority of one sex and
inferiority of the other. It is simply a matter of
organization that takes human nature into consideration.

Moreover, the Prophet noticed that when women were praying
behind men, they could inadvertently see men's thighs if
men's robes were short. He did not order that a screen be
erected to prevent that possibility. He simply advised
women to delay standing up after prostration for a moment
so that men would have already risen and their robes were
in the proper position.

If some men try to irritate women,or gaze at them in an
impolite manner when they pass by them at the entry point
to a mosque,the answer is not by depriving women of their
right to attend mosques.The answer is to educate men and
ensure that their behaviour complies with Islamic values.
If there remains some elements who persist in misbehaviour,
some punishment should be applied to make sure that they do
not disturb women worshippers.


Instilling the love of the Prophet in the heart of a child

Question :
How can we develop love of the Prophet SAWS (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) in the hearts of our
children? I have a young daughter – what can I do with her
to achieve this?

Answer :

Praise be to Allaah.

There are a number of ways to instill love of the Prophet
SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)in the
hearts of our children, such as:

The parents can tell them the stories that have been
narrated of the children of the Sahaabah at the time of the
Prophet SAWS (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
how they fought those who tried to harm him, how quickly
they responded to his call and obeyed his commands, and how
they loved that which he loved, and how they memorized the
hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him).

The parents should help her to memorize as much hadeeth as
she can of ahaadeeth, and reward her for that… One of the
things that was narrated concerning that was the words of
al-Zubayri:Imam Maalik ibn Anas had a daughter who
memorized his knowledge – i.e. al-Muwatta’(an essential
book for Maliki Followers & Jurisprudence). She used to
stand behind the door and if a student made a mistake she
would knock on the door,and Imam Maalik would be alerted
and would correct him. And it was narrated that al-Nadar
ibn al-Haarith said: “I heard Ibraaheem ibn Adham say: ‘My
father said to me, O my son, seek hadeeth, and every time
you hear a hadeeth and memorize it, I will give you a
dirham, so I learnt hadeeth in that way.”

They should teach her – according to her level of
understanding – about the life of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and his military
campaigns, and the lives of the Sahaabah, both men and
women – may Allaah be pleased with them, so that she will
grow up loving these noble people, and be influenced by
their behaviour, and will be keen to strive and sincere in
correcting herself and supporting her religion.

The Sahaabah and the salaf (early generations) were keen to
teach their children about the life of the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him),and they would teach
it alongside teaching the Qur’aan, because his seerah is
the interpretation of the the meanings of the Qur’aan, as
well as stirring up emotions and demonstrating true Islam
and having a wondrous effect on the soul.It also carries
the meanings of love and jihad to save mankind from
misguidance and bring them to guidance,from falsehood to
truth,from the darkness of jaahiliyyah to the light of
Islam.
When telling their daughter about the life of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and the lives
of the male and female Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with
them),the father and mother must tell her about things that
she can relate to,such as the childhood of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),some stories
about his life with (his wet-nurse) Haleemah al-Sa’diyyah,
and how Allaah bestowed goodness and blessings upon
Haleemah and her family because of him (peace and blessings
of Allaah be upon him),the night of the Hijrah and how
Allaah covered the eyes of the mushrikeen,and other stories
which demonstrate how Allaah helped him.Thus the girl’s
heart will be filled with love for Allaah and love for His
Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).It
was narrated from ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him)
that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) said: “Train your children to acquire three
characteristics: love of your Prophet, love of his family
and reading the Qur’aan, for the bearers of the Qur’aan
will be in the shade of Allaah on the Day when there will
be no shade except His, with His Prophets and His chosen
ones.” (Narrated by al-Suyooti in al-Jaami’ al-Sagheer, p.
25; classed as da’eef by al-Albaani in Da’eef al-Jaami’
al-Sagheer, p. 36, no. 251). It would be a good idea if the
parents  devote a suitable time for teaching the life of
the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
during the daily family lesson,when the children can read
about seerah in simplified books, or the father or mother
can tell them these stories in a manner that is appropriate
to the child’s age.
From Tanshi’at al-Fataat al-Muslimah by Hanaan al-Toori, p.
171









___________________________________________________________
How much mail storage do you get for free?  Yahoo! Mail
gives you 6MB! Get Yahoo! Mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~