Need some advice from my brothers and sisters in islam :)?
I have a problem that has been bothering me for a while and I pray that Allah will guide me to a solution. I am 18 years old and have been seriously performing my Sal for about a year now. I have changed alto during this time, to the point where I do not even go out after school anymore or spend time with friends because I do not want to miss my prayers. However, I recently volunteered (without giving much thought to it) to be involved in a short skit for school in which we are portraying our teachers in a "murder mystery". It is a funny skit and the teachers are all in favor of it. I will be acting as my English teacher. I was very excited as I love acting and being on stage...but the more I thought about it, the more worried I became. First of all, doing this skit involves missing some of my prayers, which I never do unless I have no choice. I of course would make them up, but I know that it is not recommended to do so. Another problem I have is if this ha ram to participate in, since it is portraying murder, even if we are purely kidding around. I am very confused as to what I should do....as a Muslim should we avoid all sports or after school activities if we have to miss our prayers? What about all the Muslim teens who play soccer, football, do drama club, etc.? What if you enjoy doing those things every now and then, but you never forget Allah? Am I putting my desires before my duties to my Lord? What should I do, as if I wait much longer, I will not be able to get out of this skit at all?
Why would you miss things for Sal? How long does it take you to pray? Would it hurt to excuse yourself for a few minutes to pray then return to the activity? I have classes at all hours of the day (my personal favorite is the one that runs from 4 to 9 PM, yes, if I didn't excuse myself I'd miss 2!)
As for it being ha ram; is it doing anything that's ha ram? Are you going to dress provocatively or pretend to engage in some romance or something like that? If not, it's fine, though there are some scholars who say all forms of acting are ha ram since they're lies, but yeah, not everyone in agreement with that. If that's the case, then all fiction stories and books would be ha ram as well. And why would portraying a murder be Hiram, you're not murdering anyone.
The prophet did say that people should live and work, and not devote every single moment to prayer. I don't remember the exact Eadith, but it's there.
In our lives we have many duties that we do like school, jobs and other sort of activities. And when we are doing these things we forget Allah and that we are His servants. Allah dozen?t want us to forget that we are His servants and also why we are here in this universe. That?s the purpose of Salah and why Allah made Salah. Salah not only helps us to remember Allah and that we are His servants. But it also keeps us on the right path, it helps us from not doing bad, from disobedience of Allah, makes us clean and healthy and also it gets us closer to Allah. If you stopped offering Salah you would no longer be a proper Muslim.
There are five obligatory daily Salah in a day. Fajr is the first Salah of the day, which helps us to start our day with remembering Allah (Subhanahu WA Ta?Ala). Fajr is prayed early in the morning before sunrise. Zuhr is the next Salah. It is prayed after mid day in the afternoon, so that after you have eaten your lunch you can remember Allah. Then comes Asr which is prayed when most parents and children come back from school or work. This is another time to remember our great Lord Allah. After the Asr Salah is Maghrib which is prayed immediately after sunset when the sky becomes dark. We remember Allah before sunrise and now we remember our Mighty Lord again after sunset. After Maghrib comes Isha. It is the last Salah of the day, when we pray to Allah to thank Allah for all He has given us that we asked for! We pray for the forgiveness of our sins. We also pray for a peaceful night and also another happy and successful day tomorrow.
The Jumua prayer is the most important Salah in the week. The Jumua Salah is at the time of the Zuhr prayer, prayed on Friday, with a khutbah and in a jama?ah, but the fard Salah of the Jumua prayer is only 2 rak?ah. If you miss the Jumua Salah you can pray it as Zuhr, but the Jumua Salah is highly recommended to pray.
Salah has to be prayed right. Wudu is the key to Salah. If you did not do wudu properly and you pray Salah your Salah will not count. And when you are praying Salah you must be facing the Qiblah. The Qiblah is the direction, which faces the Ka?ba. Children at the age of ten must start praying Salah and at the age of 12 Salah is obligatory.
Salah is so important to be prayed that in any circumstances you still must pray salah. Even if you are on a journey, and also if we are very ill and are confined to bed you still must pray Salah. You may ask how are you supposed to pray Salah when you are truly ill and are confined to bed? In that case, we can pray Salah while lying down in bed, using postures and signs.
If those ill still have to pray salah to allah the why shoudnt you , you said you will make up for them but is your after school activity more important , do you really have to miss the salah and then make up for them ?
Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him said:
"Our Lord (glorified and exalted be He) descends each night to the earth's sky when there remains the final third of the night, and He says: "Who is saying a prayer to Me that I may answer it?
Who is asking something of Me that I may give it him? Who is asking forgiveness of Me that I may forgive him?"
Would you rather spend time on your after school activities or pray to allah , your creator the most beneficient the most merciful , As your school activity involves acting i assume this would be wrong and even if you are portraying murder as a joke or not true this is still an act of evil and we should stay away from all acts of evil weather true or not.
What is Islam?
Islam is based on correct faith and right actions. Means are as important as the end and ends are as important as the means. It is an organic unity. Together they live and thrive. Separate them and they both decay and die. In Islam, faith cannot be divorced from action. Right knowledge should be transferred into right action to produce that right results. ?Those who believe and do good, they alone shall enter paradise.? How often these words come in the Quran? Again and again, not less than fifty times these words are repeated. Contemplation is encouraged, but mere contemplation is not the goal. Those who believe and do wrong are inconceivable. Divine law is the law of effort and not of ideals. It chalks out for the men the path of eternal progress from knowledge to action and from action to satisfaction.
Allah speaks to man through the Final Testament(i.e. Quran): ?O mankind! Verily, the Promise of Allah is true. So, let not this present life deceive you, and let not the chief deceiver(devil) deceive you about Allah. Surely, Satan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy.? 35:5-6"O Man! What has seduced you from your Lord?" The practicability of the Qur'anic teachings is established. The distinctive approach of the Qur'an is that its instructions are aimed at the general welfare of man and are based on the possibilities within his reach. In all its dimensions the Qur'anic wisdom is conclusive. It neither condemns nor tortures the flesh nor does it neglect the soul. It does not humanize God nor does it deify man. Everything is carefully placed where it belongs in the total scheme of creation.
This view that Islam is easy to understand and practice, is one which is derived from the primary sources of Islam. In the Quran, Allah comforts us by continuously reassuring us that He desires for us ease not hardship, despite the seemingly formidable trials and tribulations that we may sometimes face. Our Lord says:
'God desires ease for you, and desires not hardship' (2:185);
'Truly with hardship comes ease' (94: 6);
'God will assuredly appoint, after difficulty; easiness' (65:7);
'We shall speak to him, of our command, easiness' (18:88);
'God desires to lighten things for you, for the human being has been created weak' (94:28).
We believe in the God of the theist, the God of the atheist, the God of the Jews, the God of the Christians and the God of the pagans, because whether they choose to accept divine providence or not: ?Know, therefore, that there is no God but Allah.?(47:19)
The sun rises, the sun sets, the entire Universe continues to subsist and exist by the Might, by the Power of One Allah. He is Allah. This universe- Allah alone has brought it into existence and Allah alone will keep it into existence, and this existence will not terminate on its own accord but it will terminate on the will and intention of One Allah.
We keep the absolute conviction in our hearts that each and everything that exists, whether we can see it, whether we cannot see it, whether we can perceive it, whether we cannot perceive it, whether it is within the realm of the human understanding or whether it is beyond our understanding; everything that exists is the creation of One Allah.
Nothing benefits, nothing harms, , nothing gives life, nothing gives death except with the permission of One Allah. Allah, singularly, alone controlling everything. He is the First without a beginning; he is the Last without an ending. No eyes can see Him and no mind imagine Him. Everything happens how Allah wills it to happen, it happens in the manner in which Allah wants it to happen .And that which Allah does not will, all creation in the universe can get together, they cannot bring it into existence. Not a leaf, nor a life. And most of all, not even a single verse of the Glorious Quran, A Book of Wisdom, Evidence and Knowledge, a Guide and a Mercy.
Mankind today is on the brink of a precipice, not because of the danger of complete annihilation which is hanging over its head-this being just a symptom and not the real disease-but because humanity is devoid of those vital values of peacefulness, which are necessary not only for its healthy development but also for its real progress
First of all sister I need to advice you that posting a picture of yourself on line is not wise as non-Mariam men can look at you. Also, you are sinning by not wearing hi jab.
Secondly, education is important in Islam. I strongly advice you not to miss any classes. You can still attend class and pray. If you have to make arrangements with your teacher about prayer during class time, then work something out with the teacher. Do not skip class just to pray, but leave for a few minutes to complete prayer if you have to, but keep in mind there are only 5 prayers a day, some not during school hours, and prayers take less than 10 minutes to complete. This to me, is a poor excuse to stop going to school.
Also, you should not have volunteered for the skit. Firstly this may cause you to wear ha ram and immodest clothing. Secondly, does it cause physical touching with men? What about music? Dancing? (all ha ram things)
Also, it is not permissible for you to miss prayers just to perform a skit. Prayers are obligatory and must be performed on time~skits are not obligatory and therefore prayers come first.
I advice you to drop out of the skit. Allah comes first.
Be careful not to go extreme. Refrain to much from good activities can lead you into negative perception. This is dangerous for you faith. Each Muslim is urged to seek knowledge and skills. Knowledge and skills will build stronger Muslim, stronger faith. Imam Al-Ghazali said "A pious man while doing his Obadiah and he knows everything about Obadiah, but never accompanied it with knowledge, then he is actually not doing any Obadiah." See how important is knowledge. Leaving the SALT for some urgent purpose is accepted, but must be compensated. This is why the ruling for quasar or Ada' SALT come in practice. Meaning, if you are sure that your activities take away the time for your SALT, then you do the quasar SALT (brief salat) or compensate before (make it in the first salat).e.g if you are sure you'll miss the ashr, then you make it in dhuhr i.e after dhuhr salat after saying your salam, stand up and do your ashr salat. Make sure you niyyah in dhuhr that you combine the tow salat. This is called salat qada'. Or similarly you can do it (dhuhr into ashr). For the qasar, you make a brief salat (four raka'ah make it into two raka'ah only), and the niyyah for qasar should be said. Any way: if you really need this salat offering, I'll send you. Just email your request.
Ruling
About the wearing skirt. It is haram to expose your body, for woman, all parts of body except you palms and soles. Face is exceptional. But you can still wear skirt, but use track-suit within. Only wear cloth that doesn't show the real shape of your body.
My advice.
Portraying murder, that's another problem. It deals with your intention. If that's for acting - educational purpose, then it is alright. But in acting, if you do it with your intention (to unleash your feeling of revenge), that's not allowed. Reprent.
Need some advice from my brothers and sisters in islam :)?
