Being unable to cry

Q: I have come to Saudi for Hajj. I was first in Medina where I would cry a lot out of repentance and when I used to make dua, after a few days I have gone so hard that I can not cry any longer, even though I pretend to cry it's very difficult, is this a bad thing? Is this a sign of my Duaas not been accepted? If so please advice me as what to do.

Difficulty in doing good deeds

Q: I have a very serious concern. Sometimes when our spirituality goes down, we find it very difficult to perform good deeds, or to be steadfast in performing them regularly, we become very weak and sometimes we become so guilty that bad thoughts and ideas crosses our mind very frequently, and for the one who is concerned for his Iman, it brings great pain and dissatisfaction to the heart. Please I want to know how can someone be able to preserve and maintain his Iman forever. And secondly, if we find ourselves weak in Iman, (that causes us pain sometimes), how to increase it again so that we can feel it in our heart, the sweetness of it?

Bid'ah

Q: There are old ladies in my extended family with very deviated and corrupted beliefs. For everything they run to Darghas, brushing themselves with peacock feathers at these places, calling unto Hadhrat Sayyid Abdul Qadir Jeelaani (rahmatullahi ‘alaih), having their annual 'Keer Puree Niyaaz,' getting Taweez's from fusaaq and women who work with strange men and other nonsense. Furthermore, they spend their time gossiping over the phone, are regulars on the Hindu films and series that air all day and are avid with newspaper reading. They have no time for Salaah apparently. Their lives are also miserable with a number of health problems caused by overeating and drinking Fanta, Coke etc. the whole day. Even that, they proudly mention how their daughters work as an airhostess or even a TV news reporter. Many times, we have received calls at odd hours of the day to watch their daughter bareheaded and exposed on international news. Or how healthy and good lives their daughters live since they are regular at the gym or studying medicine in a distant university (without a mahram). The thinking is completely corrupted. My extended family are Berelwis.

(1) How can we work to correct them - even slowly and amicable? I get extremely frustrated when they mention all the difficulties they face and how hard everything is for them, when I feel that this is nothing but a direct consequence of all the Bid’ah nonsense they perpetrate at the expense of Shariah. Even with Bid’ah aside, everything else is corrupted. These are old women.

(2) I am a male. With the exception the Bid’ah nonsense, how can I prevent my own understanding and thinking to be diverted and polluted to such an evil extent, as I grow older?

(3) Should we make Du’a to Allah Ta’ala to hasten the coming of Imaam Mahdi (Alayhis Salaam) so that we can be safeguarded from such Dajjali and Shaytaani effects currently around us?

Ring ceremony

Q: Is ring ceremony (Engagement, Mangni) haraam in Islam as this ritual involves physical contact of exchanging rings between the new proposed couple before the Nikaah?

Tenant not wishing to pay rent

Q: We own a house and have tenants staying there! I gave them notice to move as I wanted to move into the house. Things didn't go as planned for me and I ended up not moving. I told the tenants that they don't have to move anymore! They continued to stay. Now they don't want to pay me rent fir the month saying they didn't get deposit back from removal company and the husband had to take unpaid leave 3 days for the move. Is this allowed. Also they didn't inform me about there plans only when I asked they said they not paying!

Doctor prescribing contraceptives to patients

Q: I am currently working as a Junior doctor in hospital and I am due to apply for a speciality career in General Practice (GP)/Family Medicine Inshallah. As a doctor is it permissible for me to prescribe birth controlling/contraceptive pills and other such artificial birth controlling methods, especially when in the west majority of its use is by unmarried women fuelling their desire for zina (as I am sure you are aware). I have seen on countless occasions during my GP placements where single unmarried women have come to see the GP and asked for the re-supply of their contraceptive pills as they have ran out and they have not been able to have "Safe Sex!!" with their boyfriend and have had to take the "morning after pill" each time they have had intercourse, just to be on the safe side. As I am planning on applying for this training post, is this permissible in the light of Islam?

Talking to a girl before marriage

Q: I'm in a real difficult situation moulana and I have no idea what to do. I'm interested in a girl for marriage and waiting to go propose. So she read istikharah namaaz last week whether she is ready for marriage or not and it came out negative. So today she made me aware that there has been really bad sihr done on her and according to one moulana she has more then one jinn in her and its a male and the jinn is in love with her. I was aware of this about 18 months ago but I thought she got it sorted out and ever since then she has been trying all treatments to resolve this issue of sihr. So she went to see another moulana this passed weekend from the Ruqya institute. So he says its even worse then before the sihr and the jinn. And whatever treatments she was doing before made it worse. So he gave her some water he read on she must drink, another water she must bath with and olive oil must rub on herself.  Also he gave her something to burn and she must inhale its fragrance i think. According to the moulana and his treatment she should be back to normal by january 2015 and that what she is experiencing is one of the worst cases he is dealing with for a female. Also her treament includes going for cupping after every 2 weeks.Also she says she really feels possessed inside her. That the once she was making wudhu and it felt like someone was pulling her back. Also when sheread quraan or listens to quraan she begins to cry, her heart rate increases and she can't focus. She sometimes feels like wen she reading 4 rakaats salaah towards the end of the salaah she feels like sleeping. She also feels like she don't have the urge to fulfil her desires or like when she thinks about her sexual desires etc it does not make her feel the urge to satisfy those desires. She also says she don't get her haidh on time. I really don't know what to do. I really like her but with all this she going through I really don't know if I should go and propose for her and get married. As this sihr has been troubling her for 18 months now and what if it troubles her for the rest of her life and the Jinn thats troubling her does not leave her alone. What if she does not get cured from this sickness and she does not become the same person she used to be. And if we get married then it might affect me also mentally and I might not feel that my desires are being satisfied. Any advice you can give me please? I'm really emotional as I really admire her not just for her beauty but because of her character and knowledge of deen. And if she does get cured will she be the same person she used to be before all this sihr and Jinn started to trouble her? Finally mufti saab is it possible that her isthikarah namaaz she read could be because this Jinn that's in love with her (according to the Moulana) is the reason why her Istikharah whether she is ready for marriage came out negative?