Hassanain Govani

Salaamun Alaykum

I refer you to the Qur'an 41:31 and 43:71 where we are told that in Jannah we will be given "whatever we desire". This is a generic reply to all queries about Jannah and the rewards waiting there.

In addition, I would also point out that we should not expect the next life to be like this life. Yes, there are similarities between this life and the next, but the next life is essentially different. And so any description in the Qur'an is an allegory, not meant to be the complete picture, but rather an allegory intended to increase our yearning for the reward that God has promised the righteous.

And God knows best.

May He include us in His ultimate Mercy

Salaamun Alaykum

In addition to the previous reply, perhaps below might be useful:
Our understanding of concepts such as "life", "death" and "existence" is coloured by our experiences. Our frame of reference is the reality that we inhabit, and it cannot be any other way. Even when we use words such as "nature of God", it is our understanding of the words "nature" and "God".

Therefore, when we talk of God as being "Alive", "Everlasting", and such, our immediate frame of reference is our own lives and existence. When we see that we come from being non-existent into existence, that we live and die, we sometimes might think of God as being alive and existing in the same manner.

Some theologians and philosophers will explain that God, who is the "source" of all that exists, is existence Himself. Whereas our existence is contingent, meaning it's dependent and possible, God's existence (or perhaps God as existence) is necessary. 

I hope that the above discussion has shed some light. At the end of the day, all of our ruminations and musings are limited by our own limitations.

Always in need of your prayers
Hassanain
 

Salaamun Alaykum

As you have quite correctly pointed out, the primary emphasize of the Qur'anic cosmology is to identify the creative agent behind it, not the particulars of creation itself. As such, very few specifics are mentioned about the process itself. (Although a few details have been mentioned, these are not sufficient to provide an exhaustive creation story.)

The big bang theory is a scientific hypothesis that was originally theorized by a Catholic priest who also was a scientist. Before this theory, many scientist subscribed to the view that the universe was eternal. I point this out to demonstrate that science is constantly evolving.

The big bang theory is indeed supported by many observations. If you find that the evidence/observations support the hypothesis, then you do not need permission from someone else to accept it as an explanation for how our universe came about. In the same manner, if someone is not convinced by the evidence, then no matter what any authority says, they will not accept it.

From the Quranic perspective, what is important is that you recognize God as the creator of everything.

I would, however, suggest phrasing this differently. If the evidence convinces you, I would suggest saying that "I accept the big bang theory as the most convincing explanation of the evidence".

And God knows best

In need of your prayers

Hassanain
 

Salaamun Alaykum

The narrations state that the leaders of Christians of Najran, seeing the Messenger (pbuh&hf) with his close family members, reneged on the Mubahila. They remained on their religion and came under the protection of the Messenger (pbuh&hf) and the Muslims, pledging to pay a tribute.

And God knows best

In need of your prayers

 Salaamun Alaykum

As the respected Syed has showned, several sources do witness to the height of Abil Fadhl al-Abbs (pbuh).  I would like to add a small note here: Sometimes, we tend to use hyperbolic expressions in our day-to-day language. This is common in many languages. For example, in English you could say "tall as a giraffe", or "as hungry as a wolf", or "I could eat a horse". 

Being consumers and contributors to  the common parlance of the day, we realize that these are hyperbolic expressions; idioms used to express that something is out of the ordinary. Indeed, with time, even hyperbolic expressions tend to become more common, and so we find that expressions like "awesome" and "fantastic" are used in everyday language, whereas their usage previous was limited to extra-ordinary phenomena. 

Given above, I do believe that it would not be far-fetched to understand the statements about the height of Abil Fadhl al-Abbas (pbuh) as hyperbole. That is to say, he (pbuh) was very tall; taller than other people of his time. A way for historians to accentuate this, using the parlance of their day, was to describe his height very tall even when sitting on a horse.

And God knows best 

In need of your prayers
 

Salaamun Alaykum

I do not belive the exact phrase "marital rape" occurs in Islamic sources. That, however, does not mean that Islam condones rape within a marital context. 

The Quranic command is for husband and wife to live with each other honourably and kindly. A number of ahadith further put emphasis on this. Husbands are ordered to treat their wives with fairness, kindness and patience. They are not to harm them. 

As for sexual intercourse, husbands are further ordered to take care of their wives' needs and the husband is not to proceed with the actual coitus until the wife is ready.

Again, we remind ourselves that husbands are not allowed to mistreat and/or harm their wives. 

Hence, although the terminology "marital rape" does not occur in the sources (as far as I know), I believe one must conclude that the act as such is not allowed.

In need of your prayers

Salaamun Alaykum

In addition to below, it should be noted that the Messenger (pbuh) is the addressee in many parts of the Qur'an, meaning that much of the Qur'an speaks directly to Prophet, albeit not always mentioned by name. Additionally, other parts of the Qur'an make third-person references to the Messenger (pbuh).

Taking these facts into consideration, we can conclude that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is mentioned more than any other prophet in the Qur'an.

With Salaams

Salaamun Alaykum
 

I'd like to tackle this question from a non-legalistic perspective, but rather from a rational perspective. 
There are certain things that we are not able to grasp. Look for example at the 1st sermon recorded in Nahjul Balaghah:
Praise is due to Allah whose worth cannot be described by speakers, whose bounties cannot be counted by calculators and whose claim (to obedience) cannot be satisfied by those who attempt to do so, whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach; He for whose description no limit has been laid down, no eulogy exists, no time is ordained and no duration is fixed. He brought forth creation through His Omnipotence, dispersed winds through His Compassion, and made firm the shaking earth with rocks. 

Look especially at these lines:
whom the height of intellectual courage cannot appreciate, and the divings of understanding cannot reach;
 

Imam Ali (pbuh) says that God is such that he cannot be fathomed by our limited understanding. In my humble understanding, this would also cover your query, i.e. why does God exist. 

Now think about from a different perspective - what would exist if there was no God? Such a question cannot yield anything but utter confusion, for in our understanding of existence, there is no existence except by God.

Although we would normally not reply to a question by saying "just accept it", this I would say is such a question.

With Salaams

Salaamun Alaykum 

Thank you for your question.
The simple answer is that we do not know. 
There might have been some attempts to calculate the generations to reach a "plausible" estimation. However, the Qur'an is silent on this issue and we should be very careful not to read things "into" the Qur'an.

Essentially, the stories of the Prophets (pbut) are narrated for learning: there is moral guidance and wisdom in them. The Qur'an is generally very silent on details such as names, places and ages.

I don't want to call towards a culture of "don't ask and just accept"; rather what I am trying to say is that there is a reason why God didn't reveal certain details, and I believe the reason is to "zoom" our focus on the important parts of the stories.

In need of your prayers

Hassanain 

Salaamun Alaykum

Thank you for question.

What is apparent is that Qabil kills Habil out of jealousy. The reason was that God accepted the offering of Habil, whereas He rejected the offering of Qabil. The Qur'an indicates that the reason for this was that whereas Habil was a muttaqi, Qabil was not.

5:27

وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ابْنَيْ آدَمَ بِالْحَقِّ إِذْ قَرَّبَا قُرْبَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الْآخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ ۖ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ

He said: I will most certainly slay you.

(The other) said: God only accepts from the muttaqeen.

Some have suggested that Qabil's offering was smaller, or in other ways different. This is reading into the text what is not there. 

Yet some have suggested other reasons for the jealousy of Qabil, but again, this would entail reading in things into the Qur'an which is not there.

In need of your prayers,
Hassanain

Salaamun Alaykum

Watching pornography would go against the clear command of Qur'an to "lower the gaze", Suratul Noor 24:30-31.

What actually entails a major sin, and what the punishments for those are, is a much discussed and debated question.

I understand that it could be interesting to know whether or not watching pornography would fall into such a category.

However, I would like to highlight the issue from another perspective. Generally, when something is haraam in sharia, it is so for good reasons. There is an abundant amount of evidence showing that pornography is harmful for the persons involved in the filming, for the individual watching, and for the society at large. 

Many books have been written on the issue, e.g. Understanding and treating Sex and Pornography Addication by Paula Hall, and Treating Pornography Addiction by Kevin B Skinner.

I would also recommend the following TEDx talk: The Great Porn Experiment 

To cut it short, pornography is highly addictive. Furthermore, it can cause serious problems in life in different domains, such as marital intimacy, concentration, carrier, and other areas. 

Therefore, I would suggest that one looks beyond the question of major sin or not. The fact is that it is potentially very harmful. These are the dire consequences in this life. I dread to think about the consequences on the soul and the life to come.

May God bless you