Zakat (cont) www.e-nisab.com Gives the daily amount of gold in every currency for calculating Zakat.

Theres a gold nisab and a silver nisab. For the longest time, people used gold and silver as currency. Both of these were very valuable, usually 4-10 silver pieces would amount to 1 gold piece (4 quarters = 1 loonie). People stopped using metal as real currency. We started using paper money instead to represent gold and silver. Eventually, banks would give promissory notes for guarding a persons gold and silver. Then these promissory notes would be exchanged for gold in a persons bank account. Eventually, paper currency wouldnt even represent gold or silver. Instead its based on an interest rate, and unfortunately everyone has to deal with money, and all money is based on interest rates. In the past, gold and silver was used as money (dinars [gold] and dirhams [silver]). So there was a certain amount of gold that if you had that, you paid zakat; if you had a certain amount of silver, you paid zakat. When we started using paper money, all of this stopped. Now gold and silver dont have meaning; we just have dollars. Zakat is 2.5% of your savings, based on a benchmark amount. You have two different nisab amounts: a gold and nisab, based on the valuation of these two currencies. The gold nisab is around $4300; the silver is around $450. Scholars differ as to which one to use to calculate your Zakat; some say silver, some say gold. Basically, theyre saying you should pretend all of your dollars are either gold or silver. So if you pretend its all silver, then if you have $450 in the bank for a year, then you have to pay 2.5% on that. Likewise for gold. However, the hadith says that Zakat is meant to be taken from the rich and given to the poor. So, using that logic, you wouldnt consider someone who has $450 in their account for a year a rich person. Therefore, you should use a gold standard. So, Zakat requires you to have the minimum amount (nisab) remain in your account for one lunar year (Ramadan to Ramadan). If your account dips below that nisab during that year, then you dont have to pay Zakat

Whats the difference between dua and prayer? Not really anything. Its just a conversation with God.

What about before I was Muslim? Theres a hadith where Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said what were in the scriptures of Ibrahim? They were full of similitudes (similes). One of them was that Allah says, O tyrannical, self deceiving king! I didnt send you on earth so that you could amass piles of wealth. But rather I put you on earth so that you would prevent the weak from calling out to me. (i.e. the weak wouldnt have to call on me because you) and know that I wont turn away the prayer of an oppressed people, even if they werent a believer. *paraphrase+ No one can say that God doesnt answer the prayers of non-Muslims.

There was a man who had only done evil in his life, and near his death he asked his sons to burn him and scatter his ashes so that God couldnt find any part of him. He was so scared of being accountable before God. Yet this person was forgiven by God, because god recognized this fear of accountability as a type of repentance. This man was regretful at the end of his life, and was fearful of God, and so God accepted his repentance.

There was a Bedouin who urinated in the Prophets masjid. The Companions Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said to wait and let him finish. When he did, he took water and washed it, and approached the Bedouin and said it is only a place for prayer, Quran, and remembrance of God. The Bedouin was so impressed that he said Oh Allah, only have mercy on myself and Mohammed, and no one else. And Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said, Why are you trying to limit something that is so wide? (ie Gods mercy)

They keep what good theyve done and the evil is erased.

When youre in prayer, making dua, youre in a state of humbleness and humility before God. Hence why you hold your hands out. You are saying with your body language that you are in absolute need of God.

If youre out and about and you need something from God, you dont need to do anything special; just ask. Make dua. Remember God. Our prescribed prayers are a rite upon God

Hadith Qudsi: Allah says I am with my servant when he remembers me and his lips move with my remembrance. If youre remembering God, and you are asking God, He is with you. Remember Me, and I will remember you. (Quran, Surah 2, verse ____) Hadith: If a person remembers Allah with himself, then Allah remembers him with Himself. And if he remembers Allah in a gathering, then Allah remembers him in a gathering even better (with angels).

Can you make dua for non-Muslims who are dead? Allah directed the Prophet (pbuh) not to pray for his uncle who died as a disbeliever. BUT he was an idol worshipper. Now, with regards to people who didnt hear about Islam, or were distorted, therefore theyre not in the same position as someone who is an avowed disbeliever. A Kafir is someone who the message of Islam comes to clearly and they reject it. What scholars agree on is that Allah is Just and Fair, and perhaps Allah will test these people on Judgement Dayor maybe these people are just forgiven; only Allah knows. Therefore, it is better to abstain from it, but only Allah knows.

Do you have to shave a babys hair? Dont have to, but its recommended. Dont have to do it until after 7 days. Its a sunnah. This is also when theyd name the baby and have a party and a sacrifice. Then you weigh the shaved hair and pay its weight in gold. Also, circumcision is obligatory for males. In Mauritania, they circumscribe boys at puberty. Without anesthetic (!). The message is Now youre a man. Now watch what you do with it. Because itll hurt more than this in the long run.

Sunnahs of having a baby: If its a boy, you circumcise the boy; this is obligatory You make athan in the right ear and iqama in the left ear You chew a bit of a date, take the saliva, and rub it in the mouth. Or just mix it with water. No pieces of date. Give a good name. Shave the childs head, give away the hairs weight in gold Throw a party. What do you do if your bank gives you interest?

If your account gives you interest, dont give it in charity. Take that amount and buy something useless (ie. Toilet paper, Kleenex, paper towel, cleaning supplies etc.) and give it to the masjid.

Also, dont donate toys to the mosque; donate them to IFSSA. Give away good stuff, not stuff you wouldnt accept.

If a woman dies giving birth, she is considered a martyr and goes straight to Paradise. There are a number of people who are given the status of a martyr, even if they dont die in battle. A person who speaks the truth in front of an oppressor and is killed A person who is crushed to death by an object A person who drowns A person who I burnt to death A person who dies of a stomach sickness or injury A person who dies defending their wealth or their family or their property o If a person tries to rob you, then you fight, and if you die, youre a martyr