Q: After returning from Hajj at Manchester airport, we realised that our baggage had not arrived. We went to the information desk and after filling out a lost property form, we were assured that our luggage would be sent to our home. However the zam zam water would have to be collected from the airport. At this point, an employee handed us one bottle of zam zam and after his colleague objected, he assured us that his manager had instructed him to give them out. Hence we took this bottle home but have not consumed it yet. This zamzam that was given to us had no box and was in a plastic sealed bag with no name or contact details. (Number 1)

One week after receiving the luggage, we were informed by friends and family that Manchester airport would not contact us to ask us to come and collect the zam zam, but we would have to go to Manchester airport. They asked us for our lost property reference number and quoted us the right amount of zam zam bottles which were due to us.

An employee came out with 4 boxes of zam zam and handed them over to us. After explaining to her that these were not ours because these had other names or nothing written on them and ours were distinctive due to how we had wrote our full names and address on all four sides including our contact details, she claimed that there was no difference between the contents of these four boxes and the four boxes we were asking about as they all contained zam zam water. I didn’t argue too much knowing she would not understand from which aspect I was coming from and therefore we brought these home. One box had a first name and the name of their city written on it. Another box had nothing written on it. One had a full name and contact number. One had a name only. I am sure that Manchester airport are treating all lost zam zam water in this years hajj season in the same manner. I am convinced that our four bottles are in the hands of somebody else. (Number 2)

I feel as though this will carry on until hajj does not move out of the holiday season. I’m guessing a few more years from now. Would you let us know what we should do with the zam zam in (Number 1 and number 2).

Just to note, my family who got into the UK before us ended up leaving one of their zam zam because they had waited two hours and it didn’t come. 

Q: Which one is the shahada? Is it “lā ʾilāha ʾillā llāh muḥammadun rasūlu llāh” or the sentence in tashahhud “Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan ‘abduhu wa rasooluh”? I thought they are the same but not sure. Which one should a new Muslim or a one out of Islam to say to become Muslim? 

Q: I read somewhere that you cannot lift your foot in prayer and it invalidates the prayer. But when I stand up from the sitting or prostration posture, I need to adjust my feet so that I am again facing qibla directly (my body seems to be a bit lost of the previous position). I heard it invalidates prayer. Hence if I am very slightly not facing qibla, I would just not lift my feet to adjust it. What should I do? 

Q: Does purposely spitting inside the musjid and spreading it with one's hand so that its dried fast and others may not notice, is this kufr?

Q: We want to name our baby boy, Alif Taseen. But we are confused about how to spell it correctly! Should it be "Aleef Taseen" or "Alif Taseen" which is more correct?

Q: Is it permissible for a women to remove her sideburns?

Q: I'm a computer scientist and in my learning and use, there are often libraries of codes which are very popular and heavily used. They often contain a lot of math or pre built software. The problem is that the library sometimes might have a haram name like jupyter, greek mythology names much like the names of several planets. What should a Muslim to do in this situation?

Q: We find it is becoming common for people to hire cold rooms, refrigerated trucks or trailers for Eid. These equipments are hired out to anyone and have most likely been used for haraam meat before.

1. Could this cause contamination although the meat is not being stored in it at the same time as the haraam meat?

2. How should one go about cleaning the equipment prior to using? Is there a specific manner and specific number of times in which it should be cleaned?

Q: Alhamdulillah I'm married to a Muslim widow. My wife got 3 children from her 1st husband. One of her daughters got involved with a non Muslim and she became a Christian. She left Islam about 10 years go. Me and my wife tried so much to bring her back to Islam, but she does not want to accept.

Now my question is, does Islam allow my wife to still be in contact with her murtad daughter? Do I have the right as a husband to stop my wife from keeping contact with her murtad daughter? 

Q: In Islam, a husband and wife are rewarded for satisfying eachother in bed, but what if a boy marries a girl by doing sihr (jaadu) on her and makes her agree to marry him? In that case will that person be rewarded by Allah for satisfying her or will it be counted as a life time rape?