Is it permissible for a mother to stop her daughter from marrying a respectable, God-fearing young man because he isn't college/university graduate?
It is impermissible to deny a woman her right in getting married except for a lawful reason, and problems can be solved through dialogue. However, she can file a suit in order for the judge to have a say in that regard.
What is the ruling on reciting aloud (*jahr*) in a silent (*sirriyyah*) prayer?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Reciting aloud (jahr) in the Fajr prayer, in the first two rakʿahs of Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, and reciting silently (isrār) in the Dhuhr and ʿAṣr prayers is a sunnah. If the worshipper recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is valid, although it is better to follow the sunnah, in imitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “In every prayer there is recitation. What the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) let us hear, we let you hear, and what he concealed from us, we conceal from you. If you add nothing to Umm al-Qurʾān (al-Fātiḥah), it suffices, and if you add to it, it is better.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.
Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.3/389): “The sunnah is to recite aloud in the two rakʿahs of Ṣubḥ (Fajr), Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ, and in the Friday prayer, and to recite silently in Dhuhr, ʿAṣr, the third rakʿah of Maghrib, and the third and fourth of ʿIshāʾ. All of this is by the consensus of the Muslims, together with the mutually reinforcing authentic ḥadīths on the matter. This is the ruling for the imam. As for the individual worshipper (munfarid), it is sunnah for him to recite aloud according to us and according to the majority… If he recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is not invalidated, nor is there a prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd al-sahw) for it, but he has committed something disliked (makrūh).” And Allah Almighty knows best.
What is the ruling on someone who curses the religion or commits an act of disbelief during the day in Ramadan?
Whoever apostatizes (leaves Islam) while fasting, their fast is invalid. Cursing the religion is an act of apostasy (may Allah protect us from it). Such a person must return to Islam by pronouncing the Shahadah (testimony of faith), seek Allah’s forgiveness, refrain from eating and drinking for the rest of the day, and make up for that day’s fast later.
What is the ruling on someone who is uncertain whether he omitted one of the ab‘āḍ of the prayer, such as being uncertain whether he omitted the first tashahhud?
All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The ab‘āḍ include the middle tashahhud and the qunūt in Fajr prayer — for which sujūd as-sahw (the prostration of forgetfulness) is prescribed if left out. Whoever is uncertain, during the prayer, whether he omitted one of these elements, should proceed on the assumption that he did not perform it, and should perform sujūd as-sahw accordingly.
It is stated in ‘Umdat as-Sālik (p. 63): "If he is uncertain... whether he omitted a specific ab‘āḍ element, or whether he performed sujūd as-sahw, or whether he prayed three or four rak‘ahs — he proceeds on the assumption that he did not do it, and performs sujūd as-sahw."
The original principle (al-aṣl) for someone uncertain about [having performed] the first tashahhud is that he assumes he did not perform it. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
