:salamext:
format_quote Originally Posted by
elina
hi ive put this here as i have a couple of different questions ...sorry if im in the wrong section
My first question is....do I have to choose a Madhab (hope thats the right word) or can I just be muslim fullstop? I still have lots i dont understand and the different schools are really confusing me.
:salamext:
Yes you are Muslim, and that is sufficient. To find answers to your Islamic questions, you would ask a trustworthy scholar who would give you answers to your questions.
This leads to my second question....my husband (Sunni Shafi) wont touch me after wudu until hes finished salat, sometimes this can be a couple of hours :cry: I dont follow this as I dont consider myself anything other than muslim if you know what i mean? He despairs of me that i will touch him (and i mean general touching of arms, face etc, nothing intimate) then do salat, am i doing something wrong by doing this? :muddlehea
Being Sunni is a Muslim who follows the Sunnah [example of Prophet Muhammad].
There are 4 main schools which derive laws from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad, they are called; Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i, and Hanbali schools/madhabs. These schools all use tools to interpret the laws from the Qur'an and Sunnah.
Since your husband is a Shafi'i, it's okay. He is still a Muslim. In the Shafi'i school, they interpret an ayah from the Qur'an of surah al
Ma'idah 5:6, where it says [meaning];
"[if] you have touched women and do not find water (to do Wudu), then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it."
The Shafi'i school interprets that ayah literally, so they see that if you touch your wife, your wudhu breaks. However, other schools said it is not a literal meaning, but that it means if a man touches their wife with desire, or if they have intimate relations with her. They say that is what is meant.
The best thing would be if your husband did Wudhu again if he did touch. That might make it easier. But if he can't do that, then it might be okay to be patient with him, because he is trying his best to follow Islam.
Allah knows best.