When I went to do ‘umrah, I was menstruating, so I did sa‘i and cut my hair, and I exited ihram and put on niqab. I waited until I became pure, then I did tawaaf at the Ka‘bah. I did this based on the ruling on Hajj, which says that the menstruating woman should do everything except tawaaf. Please note that I am not married. What is your opinion, may Allah bless you?

What are the signs of Allah's love for His slave?

Is it Correct to pray without wadoo immedietly after coming from a normal bath.

We celebrate the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). On this day, we read a lot of salutations on him and engage in a lot of prayers to Allah. We try to show our love for our Prophet (peace be upon him). How come you say we cannot do it?
 

I am currently living in Canada for the purpose of study, but my permanent place of residence is between Jeddah and Amman. When I stayed in Amman during the summer break, I decided to go to Jeddah to deal with some official papers, and I intended to do ‘umrah if Allah made that possible for me and if I had a mahram and enough time to do ‘umrah. I intended to do ‘umrah from Jeddah because my mahram would be there. But because I was not certain that I would be able to do ‘umrah, on the day I travelled by plane I did not do ghusl, because I was menstruating and I had not yet decided to do ‘umrah. When I got there on the second day I did ghusl and formed the intention to do ‘umrah from Jeddah, and I did it.
My questions are:
Is my ihram from the miqaat of Jeddah considered valid or not?  Because of my family circumstances, we are always moving back and forth between Jeddah and Amman, and we always enter ihram from our house in Jeddah, even if we are on our way back from a trip to Amman and after staying in Jeddah for several days. We do not remember how many times we have done ‘umrah in this manner.
What is required of us if we should have entered ihram from the miqaat for the people of ash-Shaam (Greater Syria)? After I did ‘umrah I was uncertain as to whether I was completely clean following my period. If I think it most likely that I was still menstruating whilst I was doing ‘umrah, what is the ruling on my ‘umrah and what expiation do I have to offer?.

What is the importance of being truthful, both in personal and business relationships, in Islam? Is lying ever considered and (acceptable) action?

1. I would like to know the dividing line between hypocrisy and courtesy, because in many cases I feel that there is some two-facedness in people's behaviour and dealings, based on their interests and whims and desires, and it is said that it is just courtesy. Is this true? 

2. Is it possible for true friendship to be mixed with a little hypocrisy? I have a friend who does not love me as I thought she did. She held a special place in my heart that was shared by no one else, but recently I found out that my status with her is zero, and her behaviour with me for many years was superficial. I thought, and everyone was certain about that, that our friendship was strong, and until now I do not know how to end this friendship after finding out what is really going on. 

3. Can the way this friend behaved be regarded as hypocrisy? 

4. What is the punishment for hypocrisy in friendship?

I have read the many pages of your web site that instructs a non-believer. I believe that there is only Allah (one God). Ibelieve that Muhammed is the seal of the prophets. History bears this out. My question is: How do I declare this (shahadah) if I do not speak arabic?  How do I perform the five daily prayers (salah) without understanding arabic? Finally would I have to change my name?

A brother of ours has recently become Muslim. During his days of Jaahiliyyah (ignorance – i.e., before he became Muslim), he earned a lot of money by dealing in drugs. He brought this money with him and opened a big bookstore and got married using this money. Recently he has been told that it is not permissible for him to give this money in charity, because Allaah is Good and only accepts that which is good, Our question is, what should he do with this money, and how sound is what he has been told?.

I used to be very sinful, my most beloved hobby was to sin. I used to take drugs (hashish, pills, and wine) and I used also to commit adultry.
By Allah’s grace, I repented from the sin of adultry before marriage but the sin of taking drugs remained. It was because of the bad companions I had. Then one of my cousins died, he was of similar age to me. But he was not married, I thought about my situationand that someone who is younger than me has passed away, and we were comitting the same sin togeather, taking drugs.  
Allah has guided me by His grace, so I gave up all sins, I even broke the satellite dish. My life has changed 180 degrees. I became charitable, pray, call people for good and denounce evil, distribute tapes and booklets and attend lectures.
The problem:

I face criticism, starting from family, mother and sisters, that I am strict. They want to listen to songs and watch series on television. If I advise them and say that what they are doing is haram they say: “why is istighfaar (seeking Allah’s forgiveness) prescribed?, If you do not want to listen to songs and watch television then leave, we want to watch and listen” the same problem happens at work as well, I have left home more than one time, my wife stays with them, I take her with me when I leave, but they ask me to let her stay with them. I refuse and my wife feels embarrassed and fears her situation causes any problems. But when I leave her with them, she sits far from TV and from where they sit.  Sometimes I hear my mother making du’aa against me saying: “I wish Allah did not guide you, you made us restless” I seek refuge with Allah from what she says.

My problem at work is, that I work in a military sector, all colleagues are bad, the religious ones are only three, there are six bearded brothers. They get over so many things, the rest of them take hashish and drugs, flirt women and majority are of course smokers.

They all agreed on insulting me, whenever I sit with them, they remind me of my past. They mock the bearded brothers, slander them and describe them as (liers and terrorists) and I feel jealous for them and say: “you are slandering your brothers, they are muslims, you should not mock the beard because it is sunnah to keep it”. Sheikh, they gave me bad reputaion, they always critisize the bearded brothers, they never mention anything good about them.

Is letting my beard grow, abiding by sharia, enjoining good and denouncing evil in this time a crime that I have to pay for, or become immoral like them?
Even my boss, he says: “you bearded men, I will put you under the misoscope, I will not forgive any mistake you do”

I have tried some solutions:
Firstly: I asked to move to another administration, but my request will take some time.
Secondly: I cut my relationship with everyone insulted me by a word or an action. This helped limit the problem. But I do not like this way, as people became careful when they deal with me and fear that anything they say may be disliked by me. So they dislike me and make others dislike me as well.
I wish you provide me with the suitable solution for my problem because I became really tired of it.

I am doing research on the concept of monotheism in the world's five major religions. Could you please explain to me the concept of monotheism in Islam?
 

Can we use dishes that non-Muslims had formerly used to cook pork or other unlawfully slaughtered meat or used to eat such meat from? I ask in reference to the hadith about the dishes of the people of the Book: "Do not eat from them unless you do not find anything else to eat from. In that case, wash them and eat from them.”