Q: How do you know if your problems and failures in life are tests or punishment? Can you tell difference between tests and punishment in life?

Q: I own a 50 % share in a barbershop business and my partner wants to buy my share out. My portion cost me R30 000 18 months ago when we started the business. I earn between R5 000 and R6 000 profits per month for my portion. I would like to know that if I agree to sell my share will I be able to ask for a higher price than what I originally invested. I was looking to ask for R75 000 as I am earning well monthly from my dividend.

Q: Please advise if this method of saving money is halaal.

6 people each agree to participate in a group savings plan. Each person pays monthly to 1 person an amount of R1000.00 for 12 months. Person 1 recieved R12000 in the first month being January. Then person 2 recieves R 12000 in March and so on and so forth; whilst each person still pays R 1000.00 for the rest of the year. In this way each person recieved a bulk amount of R 12000.00 even though they may not have paid their full amount on their turn of taking out the R12000.

Q:

1. While at university we used to play table soccer at the café that was on the campus. We cheated by not paying for this as we knew how to manipulate the game machine. I have now made towbah for this. Can I give an estimated amount of money to the current owners of the café as repayment? If yes, do I give it to one of the employees at the café? What do I say to them? I am also not sure if the café is still being owned by the same owners as this happened over 20 years ago. Also, I am not sure if the machines belonged to the café or to a third party. The café was not owned by the university but was run by an independent company.

2. As a child (naabaaligh) I stole sweets from my uncle’s shop and money from my brother’s cupboard. I am too shy to now approach them to tell them this. Is there any way I can pay back for this without them coming to know? Can I give it to them as a gift without telling them what it is for? Also does it have to be returned as money or can I give them a gift in kind (eg. fruit, books, etc) to the exact amount?

3. As a child (naabaaligh) I stole scissors and rulers from my school stockroom. Can I pay back to the government through an extra amount of tax?

4. When I was a child (naabaaligh), I used to steal money from a game in a café. I may perhaps be able to trace the owner of the café. But I do know that the games were owned by a third party whom I do not know. How do I pay back for this?

5. As a child, another child gave me toy cars that he had stolen from a shop. Do I need to pay back for this and how?

Q:

1. I regurgitated and I tried coughing it out but even though it felt like a lot of regurgiation, it was difficult to expel, so only some of it came past my throat. Due to the difficulty, I swallowed. Is my fast valid?

2. Also, there are times where I regurgiate and feel the contents at the top of my throat or past it, however i’m not completely sure if it can be expelled or not and i’m afraid if I cough to test if it will come out, i’ll end up essentially forcing it to come out and vomiting. So I usually just swallow it. Is this fine? I regurgiate quite frequently so this brings me trouble.

Q: I would like to please find out more on mu'aanaqah. Is it a sunnat? Will it be okay to conduct a lesson on it by including it under etiquettes? What is the method of performing it?

Q: During wudhu, if a person forgets to wash a limb and only remembers after washing another limb, what should he do?

Q: Ye jo aaj kal services chal rahi hain jesa ke Easypaisa, Jazz Cash jis mai aap account khol ke raqam jama kerwa sakte hain aur usay istimaal ker sakte hain mukhtalif jaga.

Easypaisa se aap khud apne mobile number pe balance easy load ker sakte hain un paison se jo aap ne apne Easypaisa account mai jama kiye huye hain. Saath wo aap ko cash back ki offer bhi dete hain. Jesa ke 500 ka load kero balance to 30 percent cash back dete hain jo ke 200 Rs banta hai. Yani aap ko 500 ka balance 300 ka mila.

Sawal mera ye hai ke kiya ye sab sood ke zamre mai aata hai?

Kiya ye services istimaal kerna jaiz nahi?

Kuch khareedne pe cash back ka matlab discount hua ya sood?

Q: I have a discharge problem. I am not sure whether I am qualified as a mazoor or not. On normal days, as a precaution, I insert a tissue into my private part, but while I am fasting I dont insert tissue because my fast may break. Sometimes I am unable to clean the area properly with a tissue and then I insert a dry tissue. So while fasting I dont put tissue and offer prayers but I feel wetness and still I continue to pray. Since I have a discharge problem and little wetness is there when I check after prayers. What do I do as I am confused? I am afraid that I may doing kufr by offering namaz in this condition.

Q: In 2016 I paid an agent £19500 for a hajj package for four people (myself, my wife and my two daughters). Just after Ramadhaan 2016, my eldest daughter had an operation and she could not travel. As such, my eldest daughter and my wife had to cancel their hajj trip.

As the trip was already paid for, I arranged with the agent for my niece and her husband to join my daughter and I for hajj from Zambia.

They applied for their visa in Zambia and booked their flight tickets from Zambia as they were going to join us in Jeddah. After they arranged and paid for everything, they had to cancel their trip as my agent in the UK did not apply for our visa and gave our package to another party.

I had to compensate my niece for all costs which came to over £500. My agent refused to give us a refund in 2016 and made the excuse that the visa was refused so he will take us for Hajj in 2017.

In early 2017, the agent had a very bad accident and was in hospital for a few months. Due to the accident, he did not do any hajj packages but kept promising me that he will take us for hajj with another group. However, it never materialised and he was still refusing to give me a refund. I subsequently took him to court and got a judgement against him as well as his company for my payment to him as well as the compensation that I had to give to my niece plus costs for the claim.

The agent did not have any money to pay me as per the judgement and so his old partner interceded for him to come to a compromise. Hence, we agreed that the agent would pay me £1000, which he did, towards the claim costs and that he would take us for hajj in 2018 with a third party.

The agent arranged a package for us with a third party on the basis that when he got his hajj visa license for 2018, he would give it to the third party in exchange of our hajj package. The visa license depended on the agent getting a license which he has not received as yet, and so he has not been able to get the visas this year.

The agent came to see me a few weeks ago and apologised for all the inconvenience. He told me that he cannot take us for hajj this year as he has not received his  license and as such, he cannot get the hajj visa to compensate the third party for our hajj package. He promised me that as soon as he gets his license approved, he will give me my certificate for the hajj package so if he does not take me for hajj in 2019, I can claim from the organisation which issued the certificate.

Similarly, without me asking, he gave me the following two choices as a means of compensating me.

1. When he takes me for hajj in 2019, he will upgrade our rooms in Makkah and Madinah.

2. Rooms will stay as normal but in addition, he will take us for umrah in December 2018 at his cost.

My question is that from a sharee point of view, can I take the second option?