Salaam everyone, I’m going umrah for the first time with my family in the first two weeks of December this year. We plan on spending 7 days in medina first then 7 days in mecca, just wanted to know from anyone’s who’s gone if they think that it’s too long? Family has mum dad , me(20) and my 15,12,10,8 year old siblings.

Any recommendations on how to spend the days as well would be appreciated.

Please pray for me to get admission into my university🙏 Today is the last chance I have before the result so I need as many prayers as possible 🥹

Al Salam Alaikum

North african Muslim here just to see if this is a phenomena that's in majority of muslim countries, there's abit of rise in liberal views in muslim countries I've realised, for example in my country, we have a huge rise in ex Muslims and LGBT adopted views, and it's rising especially in our country and they have a sub Reddit too which has tens of thousands of them. Is this phenomena experienced in Ur homeland? Because I feel like the day of judgement is near at this point and that even seemingly holding on to being Muslim is gonna be shamed at.

I study at a Catholic university, and for one of my subjects, we are required to attend a healing Mass. It’s only a one-time requirement because a shooting happened at our university two weeks ago. We also have Muslim students and Christians from other denominations who are simply attending and observing for the sake of fulfilling the subject requirement.

انا اريد وانت تريد والله يفعل ما يريد

I need help coming to terms with it. Besides reading the Quran, do you have any reading recommendations that can help deal with every day life?

As-salamu alaykum.

I hope that you all are doing very well!

I’d like to ask, how can one honour their parents?

I’m very fortunate to have both my mother and father alive, they, alongside myself have gotten older and I’d love to please Allah by honouring my parents and making them happy.

My parents and I aren’t usually the ones, at least from what I know, to say phrases like “I love you” and such but we show our love in different ways. I’m curious how you all show your love to your parents and also I’d like to be given advice on how to show them love to mine.

Maybe, clean the house before my mom gets home? Spray some cologne in my dads room before he comes home? What are some things I can do that can be done daily?

I hope that as much as myself; others can take inspiration from this post too!

Hello, i have a question, so basically manufacturers in my country use “food-grade alcohol” or “rectified alcohol” in a small amount in bread, buns, bakery and etc. to conserve it, so it won’t turn bad quick, is it haram to eat such a bread? Same with products that use Alcohol Vinegar, is it haram or not?

Assalamu alaykum. Jag vill bara ventilera om min adhd och hur den har förstört mitt liv.

Okej, här kör vi:

Min adhd har förstört så mycket för mig att kunna ha ett normalt liv. Först och främst har min adhd gjort mig överviktig på grund av dålig impulskontroll och alltid bingeäta så fort jag kände mig lite uttråkad, vilket gjorde att jag växte upp utan något självförtroende alls. Dessutom hade jag en person som kallade sig min vän men som var en narcissistisk individ som alltid tryckte ner mig angående mitt utseende, alltid skämtade på min bekostnad. Jag kände mig verkligen dålig om mig själv. Jag visste aldrig att jag hade adhd förrän nyligen, och självklart är det ADD och inte typisk ADHD där man är väldigt energisk och kan upptäckas utifrån, medan ADD inte går att se tydligt som ADHD. Min akademiska framgång är i stort sett ingenting alls på grund av min förbannade ADD (och dessutom har jag aldrig haft några regler att följa hemma), värsta delen är att om jag hade varit en neurotypisk ADHD-patient hade min adhd upptäckts tidigare så jag hade faktiskt kunnat få ordentlig medicin, jag hade faktiskt kunnat ha ett liv nu. Åh, jag glömde nämna att jag började missbruka droger när jag mådde som sämst, och droger blev verkligen en stor del av mitt liv utöver det så fick jag reda på att jag har funktionsnedsättningen MS. Allt känns bara för mycket just nu. Förlåt, ville bara ventilera lite. Vad tycker ni?

Hi. I am having trouble with religion. When I was younger, I didn't believe in anything because I didn't pay attention. My mother is a Christian, and in 2023, I told her that I am a Muslim. I got a lot of critisism from loved ones about it. My mother respected my choice, but at the same time, she was upset. From the criticism, I changed my mind because of what others told me about Islam so I thought I was a Christian. Since then, I haven't really practiced Christianity. I know more about Islam from my own, and I feel comfortable watching videos on talks/speeches from Khatibs. I am feeling so conflicted, I don't know what to do.

I want to convert to Islam. I’m a white, blonde woman living in Germany, and I often feel like I’m not taken seriously or that I’m not really welcome in the religion. I’m afraid of feeling like an outsider in the community.

Assalaam Alaikum
I have a question
My daughter is at her sports practice and I don’t have an area where I can pray so in preparation I carry a travel prayer mat and water in my car. I offered wudu in a parking lot and began my prayer first rakat is fine into my second rakat and I’m going into ruku and I feel a sting that burns on my stomach. I got stung by either a bee or wasp. I didn’t look I screamed ouch and continued my prayer. Do I need to take a ghusl or reoffer my wudu and perform salah again? Does this invalidate my prayer?

Western women who never believed in Allah/God until adulthood and later converted to Islam: what is your story? What made you start believing in Allah?

I saw that making dua for someone in a negative way is haram. Like if done out of spite or jealousy. I’ve been discriminated in school for a little while now, for me being Bengali normally.

Like the general south Asian stereotypes amongst the general population of the school. I have been insulted for my ethnicity in the prayer room in my school as well where the majority of the students are Pakistanis, and me being Bengali is the minority. They insulted Bengalis from green street in London for example, calling them dirty.

Another one has played down the Bengali genocide in 1971, saying it was ‘only the Hindu population’ while it was both the Muslim and Hindus, and we faced starvation and systemic rape. I’ve been mocked by being called Shia because I haven’t came to the prayer room for personal reasons and they assumed I prayed on my own because I prayed like a Shia (no offence to them btw).

I’m asking this because I don’t know if this is coming out of spite and I should make dua to put them back on the right path, or if it’s fine to do this because I haven’t made any dua like that before.

Jazakallah Khair

Alsalamu allaikum I’m a Muslim born and raised Alhamdulillah but I feel like I’m not that close with Allah as I should be. I don’t remember any of the stories of the prophets and I want to learn again and I want to be close with Allah could you recommend me ways to be a better Muslim and maybe channels or sheikhs that are kind and the way they speak is soft because some sheikhs are a bit harsh and it makes me really scared to the point where I don’t want to know anything about my religion again. If you have channels on YouTube Arabic or English don’t matter please recommend them to me I’d be delighted

Also if there is a specific habit that you do or know of that could make me closer to Allah please do tell me I appreciate anything!

Fear is greater than fate, guild me

Like the most, I can read Arabic but can't understand it. To those who have gone on this journey, what are some resources that helped you understand the Quran (ex. courses, books, websites). I was looking into Bayyinah and wanted to know if it's been helpful for anyone else? I don't mind paying for a subscription if it's worth it. I also tried the Madinah Books (just a couple of lessons) and found them a bit complex, but to be fair, I wasn't following a video course because I didn't know there were any. For context, I'm a full-time student and work part-time, so I can realistically dedicate 1-1.5 hours a day to Arabic. What resources or study approach would you recommend.

As salam aleykoum

I have been music-free for 10 months now, but for the past few months I have big urges to listen to music and it's not necessarily for the beat but for the lyrics. I managed to ignore those urges for now but I'm afraid it'll get harder and harder overtime. How do you manage to still avoid music?

PS: I've also removed most of my social medias so I don't listen to music at all, even the ones present in videos, so I know the urges don't come from that

Lately, I’ve been going through something that I honestly don’t know how to deal with.

About three months ago, I quit smoking weed and started praying all my prayers. That was something completely new for me. Before that, whenever I heard the adhan, I would feel annoyed, and when my dad told me to go pray, I would get even more annoyed. But somehow, I reached a point in my life where I didn’t miss a single prayer for three months straight.

Then I went on vacation, and everything changed. I stopped praying completely. When I came back, I also fell back into a relationship and started doing things I had previously stopped because I was trying to get closer to Allah.

The confusing part is that whenever I do something I know is wrong, I feel guilty afterward. I feel closer to Allah, I pray, I ask Him for forgiveness, and I genuinely mean it in that moment. But then somehow, I end up forgetting about prayer again and going back to the same cycle.

I’m at a point in my life where I genuinely want to get closer to Allah. I know I’m capable of it because I already experienced what it felt like to pray consistently for three months. But mentally, something keeps stopping me, and I don’t understand why.

I don’t want to keep repeating the same cycle of messing up, feeling guilty, praying for forgiveness, and then forgetting again. I genuinely want to change, get closer to Allah, and become a better person, but I feel like I need help figuring out what is stopping me.

I heard one hadith saying allah had his throne "over the water" before creating the universe, but could there be water before the universe came to be?

I was born into a Muslim family, and Alhamdulillah, we are practicing Muslims. However, there was a period in my life when I was involved in some major sins. I used to leave my Salah and listened to music and some other sins without feeling guilt Then, one day, I experienced extreme anxiety about death, and I changed in one moment, stopped committing those sins, and started praying all five daily prayers, even praying tahajjud I began to love Allah and fear Him deeply at the same time. I would cry a lot while remembering Allah, and I desperately wanted to become closer to Him and would think about meeting him then i developed severe religious OCD. I started repeating the Shahadah and again all day because I was constantly terrified that I had committed kufr, or had said or thought something wrong.Now, I am completely depressed and emotionally exhausted I get extremely disturbing and unwanted thoughts about Allah and the Prophet ﷺ. Sometimes my mind automatically connects angry words when I think of Allah, and laughing thoughts when I see or think about people suffering. My mind even whispers things like, “I don't need Allah,” or thoughts similar to the things Pharaoh used to say. I absolutely hate these thoughts and cry in frustration because it is the exact opposite of what I actually believe in my heart due to this im extremely depressed and nothing makes me happy. Whenever a prayer gets delayed/missed, or even when small things go wrong my brain automatically shifts the blame to Allah, even though I know He only wants ease for us. Now i think i have pride towards Allah,I genuinely love Allah and want to be close to Him, but I don't know how to deal with these thoughts and feelings anymore. I feel like I've lost the closeness to Allah that I once had. Is this complete emotional numbness a sign that Allah is upset with me and has distanced Himself, or is it just extreme mental exhaustion from fighting these thoughts?How do I stop my brain thinking these thoughts How do I keep pushing through Salah and Duas when my heart feels completely dry, empty, and unable to feel any emotion?Please keep me in your Duas and share any advice if you have overcome this. JazakAllahu Khairan.

For a lot of reasons and causes 16-essays long (not gonna mention any of them to keep this post as brief as possible), I'm a person with 0 interest in dunya, I despise it so much I'm not attached to it and my heart completely rejects it.

I have a deep attachment to Jannah, I think about it and what I can have in it literally all the time, it's all I want and I've already sacrificed many things including my desires for the sake of it.

I wanna ask: I can't ask allah to make me die sooner, and obviously can't commit suicide.. What should be my course of action if I not only wanna guarantee Jannah, but have it as soon as possible (the next minute if possible)? I'm in deep love with it and it naturally makes me unable to wait.

please stick to answering the question directly, there's really a lot to this topic and a lot going on with my life, and I just find it really difficult to talk them out. I've been looking into this specific matter for years literally and this post is likely my last move. Thank you so much in advance.

Reference: Sahih Muslim 46, Book 1, Hadith 77.