My question deals with a friend of mine who was ignorantly joking. When my friend was teased by another friend he ignorantly picked up his phone out of joking and said I have to tell Allah. Then he said on the phone "Hello, Allah" as to tell Allah. I know this is incorrect but is this shirk?

I would like to know the proper way to make du’aa’ during prayer, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did it. Is it after the prayer or between the two prostrations or whilst standing or when?.

Is that the seven types of people who will be shaded by Allah will they also go paradise without account?

My neighbour is an American Christian, and she and her family brought me a gift when it was Christmas. I could not refuse the gift, lest she be offended.  
Can I accept this gift, as the Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) accepted gifts from kaafirs?

I must say that I'm a revert, Alhamdullila, that I was raised as a catholic and that I was very ungrateful to my Rabb before Islam. Since I was a little kid I was mischievous and often committed sin. After one particularly grave sin, and I asked Allah Subhana wa ta'ala (even thought I was a kaaffir I prayed to Allah azza wa jalla and not Jesus, peace be upon him) to have mercy on me, and I promised Him not to marry if He forgave me. Now that I'm Muslim, Alhamdulillah, I protect my chastity. I know the importance of marriage and the protection it offers a sister, and I wish I could get married in the future to a righteous brother (insha'Allah) so I could learn from him and also to be a comfort for him. But I don't know if I'm excused of not fulfilling my promise to Allah in this matter or if a woman who used to be so wicked could aspire to marry a righteous man.

Is it true that the person who is used to studying in Islamic schools, and has no previous experience of studying in non-Islamic schools, will never be able to connect with the environment that surrounds him, where most of the people are non-Muslims and that he will grow up shy and will never find any way to succeed either in his academic life or in the workplace? What is your opinion about that?

Can you tell me the ruling on women wearing a red or yellow `abâyah? Does she have to wear black?
 

A very common problem seen in youth in western countries is that their parents allow them to indulge in some form of haram in the hope that will stop them from committing worse haram. An example of this is that parents will say that they allow their children to indulge in music in the hope that will stop them from going out with bad people or leaving their home all together. Parents are afraid that if they enforce the law of Allah in their homes, that their children will leave. 

What is Islam's position on this sort of compromise? Some parents also say that they only have the duty to tell their children something is haram, and then their children have to choose for themselves because they are already young adults (i.e. 13 -18 years old and unmarried, living at home). Don't the parents have to forbid haram by all means, or do they just say that is haram and then leave them be? To what extent do parents have to go to forbid their children from haram?

Parents also believe that once their children reach the age of puberty they are no longer responsible for their sins or actions, and so say they will have no sin if they advise their children something is haram and then leave them. Is this true? Or do parents always have the responsibility of forbidding their children from haram, and will they be responsible if they see their children doing haram and just leave them after advising them?