Aqaaid

Birthday parties

Q: What do we do if my brother in law invited us for his wife's birthday. We already told them that we do not celebrate birthdays. His wife even asked us for a birthday gift. We asked if we could just do dinner and not call it a birthday party. I told my husband that I'm not going, so he said that I am being more bad to them. So what do you advise?

Deleting a recording of an incorrect statement one made

Q: If someone did a radio play for university coursework and their character in the script said an utterance of shirk, for example if they said "christ" and they recorded this, does that mean the sin is there and even if I deleted the recordings but there might be a file somewhere.

I knew it was wrong but I thought because its a character and I'm speaking the lines of that so it doesn't matter too much. Then I remembered how bad it was and the fact that it was part of the radio play. Now I'm trying to delete the recordings and finding out if it's anywhere else on my laptop. I deleted them and edited it out of the radio play but I am still stressed. Its because its recorded and I feel like if the cache or bit of the recording is still in the computer somewhere then is it still shirk?

Superstitious beliefs

Q: Please expand on the subject of superstitious beliefs in Islam. E.g. whistling in the house or cutting paper and rocking. Apart from the many other common household beliefs that are becoming a daily problem.