QUESTION: Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. If a calamity befalls a Muslim, how can we know whether it is a punishment for his sins or a test to raise him in status? Nasiba Ahmed Koki, Kano – ANSWER: According to the Qur’an and Sunnah, there are two direct causes for calamities and trials, in addition to the wisdom of Allah, may He be exalted, in what He wills and decrees. Sins and acts of disobedience that the person has committed, whether they constitute kufr or are no more than regular sins or are major sins. Allah, may He be glorified and…
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BENJAMIN Sesko was Manchester United’s super-sub for the second match running as the Slovenian scored the only goal against Everton to send Michael Carrick’s men clear in fourth spot. Thirteen days after Sesko struck deep in injury time to rescue a point at West Ham, the £73.7m forward applied a clinical first-time finish to a 71st-minute counter-attack that he had started deep in his own half. Sesko kept motoring after laying a pass off to Matheus Cunha. By the time Cunha had delivered a long pass to Bryan Mbeumo, the eager Sesko had outrun Everton’s defence and was on hand…
ISRAELI settlers have defaced and set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, marking the latest incident in a wave of Israeli violence against Palestinians in the territory. The Wafa news agency reported on Monday that settlers graffitied racist slogans on the walls of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Mosque, located between the towns of Sarra and Tal, near Nablus in the north of the West Bank. Worshippers arriving for the day’s first prayers found the damage and a smouldering fire that spewed black smoke across the mosque’s entrance and stained the ornate…
VENEZUELA’s Foreign Minister Yvan Gil has demanded the immediate release of the country’s President Nicolas Maduro, who was abducted last month in a violent raid orchestrated by the United States. Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday, Gil demanded Maduro’s “immediate release” by the US government, alongside his wife, Cilia Flores. Maduro and Flores have been in prison in New York since the January 3 operation, awaiting trial on drug trafficking and so-called conspiracy to commit “narcoterrorism” charges. Despite the whirlwind operation, relative calm has prevailed in Venezuela since, while faultlines in the country’s leadership remain…
CHAD closed its eastern border with Sudan “until further notice” on Monday saying the move was needed to stop repeated incursions by Sudanese armed groups. A government spokesperson said the decision aimed to protect citizens but added that “exceptional exemptions, strictly justified by humanitarian reasons”, may be granted with prior authorisation from the relevant authorities. The closure was announced after heavy fighting erupted in the border town of al‑Tina between Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and local fighters aligned to the Sudanese army. Almost a million Sudanese have crossed the border into Chad since the civil war broke out in…
THE youngest son of Zimbabwe’s late former President Robert Mugabe has been formally charged with attempted murder at a brief appearance in a South African court. Bellarmine Mugabe, 28, was arrested last week after a 23-year-old man was shot and injured at a property in an upmarket suburb of Johannesburg last Thursday. He was then taken into custody alongside his bodyguard – neither man has commented on the charges. Appearing in court, dressed in black, Mugabe looked calm during the proceedings. Bellarmine is the youngest son of Robert and his second wife Grace Mugabe. Robert Mugabe, who died in 2019,…
QUESTION: Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh. I was going to travel on a particular day, so I broke the fast in my house then I had intercourse with my two-week old new bride. What do I have to do? Please note that I thought that the expiation was to make up that day only, I did not know that it is fasting for two consecutive months or feeding ten poor persons. Ali Abba Inuwa, Kaduna – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. The evidence from the Qur’an and Sunnah, and scholarly consensus, indicates that the traveller may break the fast of…
EBERECHI Eze was Tottenham Hotspur’s tormentor again as Arsenal made a title statement of intent by restoring their lead at the top of the Premier League table to five points with victory in the north London derby. The pressure was on the Gunners after they lost a two-goal lead at relegation certainties Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek, while Manchester City closed the gap with victory over Newcastle United on Saturday evening. Spurs had high hopes of turning up the heat further in interim manager Igor Tudor’s first game in charge, but Arsenal simply possessed too much class and threat for their…
AS soon as the “ceasefire” in Gaza began in October, Palestinian farmer Mohammed al-Slakhy and his family headed straight for their farms in the Zeitoun area of Gaza City. After more than two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza – and despite ongoing Israeli attacks – it was finally safe enough to return, and attempt to rebuild and restore. Mohammed and his family spent months clearing rubble from the ground and whatever was left of their greenhouses, which were flattened during the fighting, like many of the buildings in Gaza. With very limited resources, they prepared the soil and…
US Secret Service agents fatally shot a man armed with a shotgun who breached the security perimeter of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in the early hours of Sunday morning. Trump was in Washington at the time of the incident, which officials said happened around 1:30 am (0630 GMT). The suspect, a man in his early 20s, was spotted by the north gate of the Mar-a-Lago property, carrying a shotgun and a fuel can, the Secret Service said. Agents confronted the man and told him to disarm but he raised his gun. “The only words that we said…
SUDAN’s government has denounced Uganda for hosting the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), calling the meeting an “affront to humanity”. Sudan’s foreign ministry, aligned with the nation’s armed forces, said Uganda had flouted international law by welcoming RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose fighters are accused of committing widespread atrocities throughout the continuing civil war. On Friday, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said he met with Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, at his presidential home in the city of Entebbe. Museveni, appointed by the African Union to mediate between Sudan’s military and the RSF, said he emphasised “a…
POLICE in Libya have recovered the bodies of five asylum seekers that washed ashore near the capital, Tripoli, as authorities in Greece announced the deaths of three others in a separate incident off the coast of Crete. The bodies in Libya were found on Saturday by residents of the coastal town of Qasr al-Akhyar, according to a police officer. Hassan al-Ghawil, head of investigations at the Qasr al-Akhyar police station, told the Reuters news agency that the bodies were all of “dark-skinned people”. Two of them were women. He said people in the area had reported seeing a child’s body…
QUESTION: Salaamu Alaikum Malam. A person owns a piece of land and one year has passed since he acquired it. Zakaah is due because it comes under the heading of trade goods (i.e., he bought it in order to sell it). How should he pay zakaah on it? Please note Ya Sheikh that he only has a little cash, very little? AbdulShaheed Ahmad, Borno – ANSWER: Amin Alaikum Salaam Wa Rahamatullah. Zakkaah is due on trade goods according to the Qur’an and Sunnah. In the Qur’an this is indicated by the general meaning of the verse in which Allah says…
THE Senegalese Football Federation has criticised a Moroccan court ruling that sentenced 18 Senegalese supporters following disturbances at last month’s Africa Cup of Nations final, calling the punishment excessive. The fans were detained on January 18 after the AFCON final in Morocco and were sentenced on Thursday to prison terms ranging from three to 12 months. In a report by Al Jazeerah English on Friday, Bacary Cisse, president of the federation’s communications committee, reacted strongly to the ruling. “We express our profound dismay and distress following the verdict,” Cisse told the AFP news agency. He added: “This incomprehensibly harsh decision…
ISRAELI air strikes killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza on the third day of Ramadan in the latest breach of the truce deal signed with Hamas more than four months ago. The attacks on Saturday occurred in northern Gaza’s Jabalia camp and the Qizan an-Najjar area in southern Gaza. The total death toll from Israel’s attacks since the “ceasefire” came into effect has risen to 614, with 1,640 more Palestinians wounded, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. Israel’s military appeared to acknowledge one of the attacks in a post on X, claiming its forces killed a fighter who…
THE British government is weighing new legislation that could remove the former prince, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, from the line of royal succession, according to reports. Officials in the United Kingdom, speaking on condition of anonymity to the BBC on Friday, said the decision could follow after the police finish their investigation into the ex-prince’s ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “The move would come after the ongoing police investigation has concluded,” the BBC reported. The UK’s Press Association news service said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government “will consider introducing such legislation once the police have finished their investigation” into…
THE Gambia expressed “grave concern” on Friday about citizens fighting in conflicts abroad, as several African countries say their nationals were lured into fighting for the Russian army. Multiple media investigations, including one published earlier this month by AFP, have exposed how Russia has enticed men from African countries with promises of lucrative civilian jobs, only to force them into fighting on the front line in Ukraine. The Gambian government “has learned with grave concern that some Gambian citizens are traveling abroad with the intention of enlisting and participating in ongoing armed conflicts,” the information ministry said in a statement.…
A JUDGE has issued an order to temporarily block the deportation of four Chagossians who travelled to the Chagos Islands to protest against a deal to hand over the territory to Mauritius. The Chagossians arrived on a remote part of the archipelago on Monday after sailing from Sri Lanka, with the aim of establishing a permanent settlement on their “homeland”. British authorities served the four men with eviction papers, which warned them they could face fines or jail if they did not leave. But lawyers representing the men have successfully applied for an injunction to prevent their removal for at…
QUESTION: Salaamu Alaikum Ya Sheikh, if a person misses ‘Isha’ prayer, it may be noted in the month of Ramadan in particular as you are well awaremthat there are more than two jamaa‘ahs in the same place and at the same time. This is something that often happens at the time of ‘Isha’ and Taraweeh prayer. For example, when the first jamaa‘ah has finished ‘Isha’ prayer, another jamaa‘ah comes and they say the iqaamah (call immediately preceding the prayer) and they begin to pray ‘Isha’. During this time, the first jamaa‘ah get up and start to pray Taraweeh. Is it…
VINICIUS Junior scored a brilliant goal but the focus after Real Madrid’s win at Benfica on Tuesday was on another incident of alleged racist abuse aimed at the Brazilian. The Champions League play-off first leg was halted for 10 minutes with the players leaving the pitch after Vinicius told referee Francois Letexier that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni had called him a “monkey”. The 20-year-old Argentine midfielder, who covered his mouth with his shirt as he appeared to say something to Vinicius, denies racially abusing the Real Madrid star. Vinicius has become a lightning rod for racist abuse after arriving in the…