Q: Is a strong promise the same as an oath? If someone makes a firm intention not to do something (word usage is promise) then if they break the promise do they have to give kafarah?

Q: I try to study comparative studies of different sects of Muslims. I’ve read your answers about Shias on the website where you have stated that shias are kafir. Kindly consider my following questions and answer please.

1. Are shias or anyone who have hatred in their hearts for Rightly guided caliphs or he/she criticize them are kafir?

2. Does anyone who speaks ill about Umm ul Momineen makes him/her kaafir?

3. If answer for above questions is YES, then why do our Muhadditheen narrated from them prophetic narrations? (Ubayd Allah bin Musa al-Absi, Abbad bin Yaqub al-Rawajini & Abd al-Malik bin Ayan al-Kufi and more)

4. Is it allowed to narrate from kaafir whether he/she is truthful?

5. Do we have any narration in our Sihah books or other books of Ahadeeth narrated from any non-muslim except shias?

Q: Three years ago after giving birth, my auntie had her operation done to avoid conceiving any more children. This was because she was facing alot of marriage problems and had this done without notifying her husband. The reason being was that she was worried that it might have a reverse affect on her marriage or her husband wouldn't support her decision. Its been 3 years now and her husband is still unaware of this.

Now mmy auntie has alot of remorse and regret for her action. She feels she is deceiving her husband who really wants another child. She is unable to tell her husband about this act as she fears it might ruin her marriage or she will lose her husband's trust. My auntie is facing a dilemma and doesnt know what to do.

She has cried in front of Allah and asked Allah's for forgiveness many times considering this act of hers to be wrong.

Apart from this alhumdulilah she is living a happy married life. Both her and her husband want to have another child preferably a son as they have 2 daughters. My auntie also thinks she will be able to concieve and she has seen many dreams where either her mom (deceased) is giving her a new born baby or she has had one herself. She has also spoken to the doctors to ask her if anything can be reversed however they have said no.

Could you please help my auntie out of this situation. What should she do to remove this guilt from her life? Is there anything that she can pray to have another child despite the operation.?

Q: With regards to calculating one's zakaat in a business setup, sometimes one's zakaat date falls a few days before one pays his vat and taxes. Sometimes, the amount of the vat and taxes can reach an amount of one million or two million. Can one subtract this amount when calculating his zakaat, just as one subtracts his debts?

Q: With regards to black Friday fatwas below, I would like some clarification on the maslas:

http://muftionline.co.za/node/17022 and http://muftionline.co.za/node/23325

1) From what I understand, since black Friday is a kuffar custom, it would thus be haram for a Muslim business owner to have a black Friday sale. Is this a correct?

2) From the above fatwas and discussion, it seems that even to go to a shop and purchase items on a black friday sale would be makrooh?( due to resembling kuffar, adding to the crowd etc and the relative ahadith) Is this correct, what is rank would this fall into haram, makrooh tanzihi tahrimi, permissible ? If a person needs eg nappies, could get it from a shop having the sale, he shouldn't do so?

3) If a person buys items online, securing the sale price, then picks up the items at week later, or has them delivered to him, so now he is not celebrating the kuffar custom, nor adding to the numbers of the crowd, would this be permissible now. Would there be any level of karahat in this. If there be any level of karahat, would this not be making things difficult for the lay man, to get the item one week later and pay much more.

Q: My grandparents won a lottery of 1 lakh rs around 20 years ago. They then added some amount to this lottery amount (around 35K rs) and purchased a home. Thereafter, one of my family members lived in that house. Presently that house is on rent and we receive a rent of around 10K rs per month. I came to know that lottery is haram. So what should be done now?

Q: A certain musjid has decided with the approval of a Mufti to build an astro turf soccer field on the musjid premises, whilst the premises is waqf. The project is spearheaded by the main Imaam and a collection drive is on for the funds of approximately R450 000. The organizers feel that they will attract people to the musjid and save them from the evils out there. The usual suspects that are being followed are the Ulemaa and community in a nearby town (apparently the nearby town has a similar facility in their muslim school yard). This astro turf will apparently be open to females asking them to adhere to purdah whilst they make use of the facility. The project seems rushed to beat anyone putting a stop to it.

1) Can such a project be done on waqf land?

2) Can females play sport in the musjid yard?

3) Should the organizers lease the land and pay a fee to the musjid?

Q: I heard that prohibition of coloring the hair black is only for men, not for women. Is this correct?

Q: I asked my husband to be for a face wash which he didn't get and I swore upon Allah that I won't talk to him, do I have to give kaffarah?

Q: For hurmat musaaharat to be established, is it necessary that shahwah be felt at the exact time of touching. Now suppose a man touches a female. He did not intend to touch her with desire. But their hands were together for a few times. At this time the man felt lust. That mans, shahwah was not present at the beginning of the touching, but it came when the hands were in contact of each other. Does it establish hurmat musahara?