Question:

As-Salaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah Wa Barakaatuhu

Is it permissible for a woman to remove her Hijab in the presence of the paternal uncle of the father and the maternal uncle of the mother?

Barakallahu Feek, My Noble Brother

Answer:

Wa Alaikumu Assallam Wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakaatuhu,

Allah (swt) says:

((حُرِّمَتْ عَلَيْكُمْ أُمَّهَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُكُمْ وَأَخَوَاتُكُمْ وَعَمَّاتُكُمْ وَخَالَاتُكُمْ وَبَنَاتُ الْأَخِ وَبَنَاتُ الْأُخْتِ))

"Prohibited to you [for marriage] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your father's sisters, your mother's sisters, your brother's daughters, your sister's daughters..." [An-Nisaa 23]

So the daughters of his brother are forbidden to him (in marriage) and the daughters of the sons of his brother to the entire chain other than that so it includes the daughters of the daughters of his brother and the daughters of the daughters of the sons of his brother and the daughters of the daughters of the daughters of the sons of his brother and so forth. Therefore the paternal uncle of the father of the woman is from the woman's Mahaarim (Those prohibited in marriage) because she is the daughter of the son of his brother.

In the same way the man is forbidden from the daughters of his sister and the daughters of the sons of his sister and the entire chain other than that i.e. the daughters of the daughters of the sister of the man and the daughters of the daughters of the sons of his sister and so on. Therefore the maternal uncle of the mother of the woman is from amongst the Mahaarim of the woman because she is the daughter of the daughter of his sister.

Your brother,

Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah

The link to the answer from the Ameer's Facebook page:

Headlines:

• US Suggests Egyptian Military may have Averted Civil War
• Syria: 'Britain Must Be Prepared for War'
• Pakistan, US Agree to Begin Talks on Civil Nuclear Technology
• Drone Attacks in Yemen Hit Mostly Civilians
• China Enforces Ramadan Prayer and Fasting Restrictions on Muslims

Details:

US Suggests Egyptian Military may have Averted Civil War:

Egypt may have avoided a civil war this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday, saying this was one factor to weigh as Washington decides whether to cut off most US aid to the Arab nation. The armed forces deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi on July 3 after huge street protests against his rule, clearing the way for this week's instalment of a new interim cabinet charged with restoring civilian government and reviving the economy. Thousands of Mursi's supporters demonstrated outside the Prime Minister's office and marched through Cairo on Wednesday to denounce the new military-backed administration and show that they had no intention of bowing to army dictates. Under US law, if the United States were to decide that Mursi was ousted in a military coup, or a coup in which the military played a decisive role, it would have to cut off most of the roughly $1.5 billion in annual US aid to Egypt. Kerry repeated the US position that it has not yet made any decision, saying it would take its time, consult its lawyers and get all the facts. "This is obviously an extremely complex and difficult situation," Kerry told reporters in Amman, adding that he would not "rush to judgment". "I will say this: That what complicates it, obviously, is that you had an extraordinary situation in Egypt of life and death, of the potential of civil war and enormous violence, and you now have a constitutional process proceeding forward very rapidly," he added. "So we have to measure all of those facts against the law, and that's exactly what we will do." [Source: Reuters]

Syria: 'Britain Must Be Prepared for War':

Britain must be prepared to go to war if it wants to end the conflict in Syria and keep chemical weapons out of the hands of al Qaeda, the outgoing head of the armed forces has warned. General Sir David Richards, who steps down today as Chief of the Defence Staff, said that if the West wanted to see an end to President Bashar al Assad's regime it would have to step in as it did to end the Gaddafi regime in Libya. He also warned that if the regime suddenly collapsed then Britain "would have to act" to prevent chemical weapons falling into the hands of terror groups. The 61-year-old general said there was "a lack of international consensus" over how to act over Syria but a shared reluctance to see Western boots on the ground. "If you wanted to have the material impact on the Syrian regime's calculations that some people seek, a no-fly zone per se is insufficient. "You have to be able, as we did successfully in Libya, to hit ground targets. "You have to establish a ground control zone. You have to take out their air defences. You also have to make sure they can't manoeuvre - which means you have to take out their tanks, and their armoured personnel carriers and all the other things that are actually doing the damage. "If you want to have the material effect that people seek you have to be able to hit ground targets and so you would be going to war if that is what you want to do." [Source: Sky News]

Pakistan, US Agree to Begin Talks on Civil Nuclear Technology:

Pakistan and the US Tuesday agreed to begin negotiations on civil nuclear technology, media reports said. Finance Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, addressing a joint press conference along with Elizabeth L. Littlefield, President of Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), here said that both countries agreed in principle to continue dialogue on civil nuclear technology cooperation, said the Associated Press of Pakistan. However, Dar said that no timeline could be given for any future agreement on the issue, it said. Both sides also agreed to enhance cooperation in the energy sector with special focus on development of bio-gas and wind energy to help Pakistan overcome the power crisis. Both sides also discussed investments and cooperation in other sectors. In 2010, the US rebuffed then Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani when he said his country "qualifies" for a civilian nuclear deal with the US, like that with India. The Obama administration then said that such a deal was not part of its talks with Islamabad. [Source: Business Standard]

Drone Attacks in Yemen Hit Mostly Civilians:

US drones' strikes in Yemen nearly tripled last year compared to the year before, from 18 to 53, according to the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there have been up to 154 strikes by US drones in Yemen since 2002 that have killed almost 800 people. But it is mostly civilians who are often injured or killed in these attacks. [Source: Aljazeera]

China Enforces Ramadan Prayer and Fasting Restrictions on Muslims:

Rights groups are calling on the central government to lift restrictions that they say have been preventing Uygurs in the region of Xinjiang from observing Ramadan since the Muslim holy month began. They say Beijing's security crackdowns after recent outbreaks of violence in the restive region have discouraged Muslims from praying at mosques and interfered with their requisite daytime fasting. World Uygur Congress spokesman Dilxadi Rexiti said this week that government officials had entered Uygur homes to provide them with fruit and drinks during daylight hours, when Muslims were supposed to abstain from food, drink and sexual activity. Meanwhile, authorities have banned organised study of religious texts and placed religious venues under close watch, including an "around-the-clock" monitoring of mosques in the northern city of Karamay, the Karamay Daily reported. Dr Katrina Lantos Swett, of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), said such moves would not alleviate ethnic unrest. "Launched in the name of stability and security, Beijing's campaigns of repression against Uygur Muslims include the targeting of peaceful private gatherings for religious study and devotion," Lantos Swett said. "These abuses predictably have led to neither stability nor security, but rather instability and insecurity." [Source: Muslim Village]

Abu Hashim

Question:

Still America is hesitant to describe what happened in Egypt as a coup, but encourages the roadmap announced by the new interim government, the spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department said: "The drawing of a roadmap for the next stage by the interim government is encouraging," as quoted by Al Jazeera.net on 7/11/2013. Jane Sake, spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, on 07/12/2013 said that the rule of the exchanged President Mohamed Morsi was "not democratic", as stated in the "Egyptian Seventh Day".

Also White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters the day before, on 07/11/2013, as reported by Al Jazeera.net: "We value how the authorities behave and how they deal with the current situation," in reference to the announcement by the Defense Minister and the Army Commander in Egypt, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on 07/03/2013 in isolating Mohammad Morsi, and appointing Adli Mansour as a transitional President of the Constitutional Court... So what made America turn against Morsi, which had supported him since the beginning of his reign? Why did America not characterize what happened as a coup, and why does it continue to "value" it until today!? And what could result from it all?

Answer:

The answer becomes clear when the following points are considered:

1. When presidential elections were held last year and the round was on 23-24 May 2012, Morsi was unable to win and votes were distributed among several candidates. The second round took place on 16-17 June 2012 and the victory of Morsi was announced with 51.73% by about 13 million votes against Ahmed Shafiq with 48.27% and about 12 million votes.

This means that almost half of the participants in the voting did not desire Morsi to become their President, preferring one of the men of the former regime against which they had rebelled. It is worth mentioning that the announcement of the results of the presidential elections was delayed, indicating that there was something behind the scenes. And then the issue was resolved in favor of Morsi, declaring his victory over Ahmed Shafiq after Mohammad Morsi gave assurances to the Americans that he would abide by treaties and conventions held by the former regime, led by the Camp David Accords.

For America this is important, evidenced by the previous and subsequent U.S. statements. The U.S. Ambassador told the Kuwaiti newspaper, The Opinion, as published on  11/30/2012: "The United States is committed to the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel and considers it crucial for peace and stability in the region and for prosperity, primarily for the people of Egypt and Israel, as we consider this treaty the foundation for peace-making efforts and stability in the region as a whole and, of course, we are pleased that the government of Egypt has repeatedly expressed that it would honor all of Egypt's international obligations." She added: "We encourage Egypt and Israel to continue their discussions directly on the security situation in the Sinai and other issues of common concern, and assure that security in the Sinai is the most important, it comes before everything else."

Within this there lies evidence that the several months spanning campaign of the Egyptian regime against the armed movements, which declared jihad against the enemy, that they were behind it, meaning America and the Jewish entity...

2. That is why the United States supported and worked to keep him on his chair, and the first of his achievements for America's interests and the security of the Jews is the cease-fire he did between the Jewish entity and the Hamas government in Gaza. It was actually a moratorium, so that Hamas placed some timely elements on the separation between them and the Jewish entity to prevent any abuse or shots at the Jewish entity! America spilled out its praise over Morsi for what he did and he carried out America's policy on the subject of Gaza...

Also America supported him through the incident of the constitutional decision of immunizing him from the judiciary, that day the spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department Victoria Noland defended the Egyptian President by saying: "The President has entered into discussions with the judiciary and other stakeholders and I think we do not know yet what the outcome of that will be, but the situation here is quite far from the image of someone insisting on his opinion, saying either things are done my way or not at all." (Middle East News Agency, 11/27/2012) Furthermore Noland rejected the words of the protesters, who described President Morsi as a dictator and the new Pharaoh of Egypt and she defended him and the decisions he had taken ... Also America backed him when he deduced the leadership in the country by removing some army commanders, led by the Defense Minister and Army Chief Hussein Tantawi and Chief of Staff Sami Annan, so when Morsi issued a constitutional decree related to this, it did not receive significant opposition ... Then America supported him on the subject of the constitution, so the U.S. spokeswoman Noland said: "Mrs. Clinton during her visit to Cairo and her meeting with Egyptian President Morsi talked about the importance of the issuance of the constitution, which protects all the rights of all Egyptians". (Middle East 11/27/012)

The impact of the U.S. politics on the rule of Morsi and his opponents is clear... Thus the adoption of the constitution was approved by the U.S., and it is a "revised" copy of the 1971 constitution of the former regime after a referendum in which 32.9%, meaning a third of the people, who have the right to vote, participated. Two thirds of the people boycotted it and the result was that 63.8% from the participating third consented to it! Thus the majority of the people were neither happy with the constitution, nor with the president, nor with his decisions.

3. America has tried to calm the situation and to convince people of their president and his decisions and of the constitution until stability could be found in the system of governance, which has been able to maintain its survival at its hands after the revolution. However the stability that was sought by Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood on the grounds that they are the President's party and the largest organized party after the abolition of the National Party did not occur. America was expecting that they would work to stabilize the situation, as did the National Party with the ousted president for 30 years. America is concerned with Egypt being a stable center of American influence. Although the intended stability is not for the sake of Egypt, rather it is supposed to be a safe platform for America for its influence and its projects, but matters proceeded without bringing stability...

And what helped in worsening the situation was the confusion caused by the presidency when it came to decision making, and then retracting these decisions when being placed under pressure, as well as the uniqueness of making decisions without consulting the ones in charge, and without trying to convince them, and without the process of convincing the street and the creation of public opinion and sensing the possible reaction before submitting to take any decision. Therefore the chaos and attempts to carry out a revolution against the president persisted throughout his year in office.

Then matters became disrupted at his lengthy speech on 06/26/2013, it seemed Dr. Morsi was in a critical situation so he confessed that he committed errors. He did not identify them, but he was referring to the constitutional declaration on 11/22/2012 against which people revolted and which caused them to dare to demand his overthrow. In his last speech on 07/02/2013 Mohammad Morsi reiterated that he had made mistakes and caused shortcomings and that he was prepared to correct all of that, which suggests that he was willing to make any compromise, after the army threatened him by giving a 48 hour notice. This means that his overthrow had been decided by the army and those standing behind the army, thus by America, knowing that Morsi was supported by America to take such decisions, but when these reversed results appeared, they abandoned him and let him fall, even conspired against him, as they do with all of their agents who do not heed!

4. And this is how we saw America abandon him and renounced his decisions. On 2/7/2013, the American news channel, CNN, had reported senior officials in the American administration as saying: "the American ambassador to Egypt, Anne Patterson, and other officials in the White House have said that the demands of the Egyptians in their protests largely correspond to the reforms that Washington its allies have been calling for for weeks." And confirming this is the release made by the White House on 2/7/2014 that Reuters reported: " President Obama encouraged President Morsi to take steps to show that he is responsive to the concerns of the protestors" and Obama confirmed that " the current crisis can only be resolved through a political process." Which means America's abandonment of Morsi and search for a new political process. The statement does not say that Obama supports the elected Egyptian President, instead it asks him to be responsive to the demands of the protesters who were demanding to overthrow the President! And when the overthrow took place it was announced that the American President met with senior advisers in the White House about what happened in Egypt, and later he said: "I now call on the Egyptian military to move quickly and responsibly to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian government as soon as possible." (Reuters 3/7/2013). And Obama did not condemn the coup, instead he did not call it a military coup, and he did not call for the return of Morsi after his overthrow, nor for the repeal of the sentence of imprisonment for a year and ousting from his position against Morsi's Prime Minister! Instead he called for the return of power to a civilian government, as in a different government from the present one, which indicates that America approved of the coup to overthrow Morsi and his government. Rather, the American administration was frank saying: "Morsi did not listen to the voices of the people nor was he responsive to them" (the same source) exactly as the chief of the Egyptian army said, "President Muhammad Morsi fell short of the demands of the people." And it is known that the chief of the Egyptian military is controlled by America's hand, and most of the American aid amounting to approximately 1.5 billion yearly goes to the army.

5. Morsi and the Brotherhood did not realize these matters, instead it seems that Dr. Morsi was deceived by America's support of him after he agreed to America's policies and maintaining America's interests and the treaties that the Egyptian republic regime had signed, especially the Camp David Accords, so it cleared the former military leaders and replaced them with others in the military and made them compatible with Morsi. So they imagined that America would not abandon him, and he was convinced that America wanted what are called "moderate Islamists" to reach power and that America wanted to continue to support them like what is happening in Turkey, and he did not realize that America is able to abandon any agent if the agent is ridiculed and drained, and if the agent is unable to achieve stability in the system of governance in the country, and America replaces the agent with another to maintain its influence, like what happened with Morsi's predecessor Mubarak who was sincerest of the sincere to America and whose son Jamal that America was preparing to inherit him, and when the popular movements surprised America, and America found Mubarak too weak to deal with these movements and return stability that would make Egypt a suitable environment to achieve America's interests, When America found him as such America cast him aside and rode the wave of the popular movements and brought Morsi... and the matter was repeated with Morsi, so when America found Morsi unable to provide the stability to maintain America's interests securely and maintain America's influence continuously without disturbances, America threw him aside... And this issue was not a matter of an hour, rather it was from quite some time, as the website "Egypt's Civil Movement", which is a secular website, had relayed under the title: "America's conditions for approving the involvement of the army in a way that does not appear to be a military coup" more than two months ago on 22/4/2013, and the website mentioned that "a person, whose name we will not reveal at this time, visited the United States in the past few days and returned after conducting a round of intense meetings and deliberations with influential members of the American administration and the Pentagon and National Security where the American stance on the Brotherhood's rule was discussed."

And the website mentioned that "John Kerry, who attended the meeting, spoke about the important role of the Egyptian army in controlling events the moment the people take to the squares and preventing the outbreak of a civil war between the different currents," and Kerry continued saying that he was shocked by the weakness of the Brotherhood's capabilities, and the disorder of their talk that does not lead to anything, and he confirmed that he was confident that at the suitable time the army would fulfill its role. And this person mentioned that the talk was about the alternative to the Brotherhood's rule and the place of the army in managing the coming transitional process.

The website also quoted one of the influential members of the Pentagon who is also a member of the American Brookings Institute, who had attended the meeting: "they concluded that even if Morsi was convinced that he should leave or will leave whether he likes it or not, his followers will not accept it, and this is where the role of the Egyptians comes in again, they must move in great numbers to support the Army and hold demonstrations calling for the departure of Morsi." This was published on 22/4/2013, two months before the coup took place, and it is clear from that, since that day America had orchestrated the coup and wished to resolve the matter in this form, and it was resolved on 3/7/2013. America abstained from describing it as a coup, instead America made unclear declarations and progressed to say that they were "assessing" the situation, and they are still assessing, and that Morsi is "un-democratic" and the drawing of a roadmap by an interim authority is "encouraging" as was mentioned in the question...

6. Morsi's supporters took to the squares to protest, and if their protests continue and increase in momentum and comprehensiveness and gain the support of the general public, then this is enough to embarrass the military council and to embarrass America so that they will resort to being responsive to the Brotherhood. Especially because they have winning cards, like that the President was elected by the people, and was recognized by the Constitutional Court and the military establishment and by the international organizations and by America and all countries, and he had not done anything to deserve dismissal according to their standards.... For he had come to power by way of elections that were recognized as fair, and he was removed by military power, and this gives them power and legitimacy and attracts others to their cause. And those who supported the coup and ousted the President are in an awkward situation in this respect, where they reject military rule and military involvement and are insistent on the elective process, and at the same time they support the change that happened by way of the military! And because of this the Brotherhood is able to overthrow the coup and return to power, or at least have a great and influential part in the new situation, especially if they stirred up sentiments... but if the deposed Presidents supporters were satisfied with negotiations and concessions... then they will lose a great defeat that they will regret, and their efforts will be lost in vain in a political maze and a lack of awareness in its path!

7. And we conclude this answer with a factual reality, that whoever pleases people by the discontent of Allah then Allah will give him up to the people, so his affairs are disturbed and his relationship with the people is soured, and this is an observable scene, for Morsi and the Brotherhood tried to satisfy America, and they agreed to America's projects and on the Camp David Accords that deserts Palestine and weakens the Sinai and acknowledges and recognizes the Jewish entity that violates Palestine.... And Morsi abandoned many of his slogans, and announced his acceptance of the republic system and democratic secular civil government, and he swore to that when he was inaugurated as President, so he put Islam and the rule of Islam behind his back, all to appease America and stay on a seat with crooked legs, so he ended up losing this world and the Hereafter, except if he repents and fixes his ways, and Allah's Prophet (saw) was truthful when he said:

«من أرضى الناس بسخط الله وكله الله إلى  الناس ومن أسخط الناس برضا الله كفاه الله مؤنة الناس»

«Whosoever pleased the people angering Allah; Allah will give him up to the people, and whosoever angers the people to please Allah; Allah will suffice him of any need of the people.» (Tirmidhi)

8. And the final conclusion, we remind that we have advised Dr. Morsi twice in two of our leaflets: the first on 25/6/2012 and the second on 13/8/2012, and in the first we said:

"...Then we send this advice, purely for the sake of Allah, to the new president in Egypt, you must fear Allah and desist from calling for the democratic civil state, with a secular thought, approach and sentiment. Returning to Truth is a virtue, so that you do not lose the whole life, after losing most of it through the military council cutting your wings and reducing your authority ... and so that you do not lose the Hereafter through your pleasing of America and the West by calling for the democratic civil state, and angering Allah, the Lord over America and the West, by not working for the establishment of the Khilafah "Caliphate" and the implementation of the law of Allah ... There is no doubt that you have read the Hadeeth of the RasulAlllah (saw):

« من أرضى الناس بسخط الله وكله الله إلى الناس ومن أسخط الناس برضا الله كفاه الله مؤنة الناس»

«Whosoever pleased the people angering Allah; Allah will give him up to the people, and whosoever angers the people to please Allah; Allah will suffice him of any need of the people» [Tirmidhi, Abu Naim in Helyah on the authority of Aisha (ra)].

This advice is purely Allah (swt). We do not seek from you any reward or gratitude, but wish to prevent the Kuffar from gloating, and their agents and all the enemies of Islam mocking when they hear that their project, the democratic civil state has become a call from the Muslims, the Muslim Brotherhood, and indeed we are from Allah and to Him we will return. (وإنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون)

And we said in the second: ‘‘We conclude the statement by once again advising the Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi, even if he did not accept our first advice... as we will never despair of advising every Muslim, especially if he is involved in the ruling. So, we follow our first advice with the second one saying: that even though the American arms have extended to the old and new political circles, however, its cessation is possible and accessible. And rectifying a mistake made once is better than persisting in mistake and doing it repeatedly. Similarly, seeking the friendship of the American arms and trying to establish good relations with them will be of no avail... rather those arms should be cut off and removed. Otherwise, there will be regret, which cannot be escaped! The land of Kenanah is a land of strength and invincibility and its precedent in that is witnessed and recorded. And he, who is truly with Allah, will prevail as the verses of Holy Qur'an clearly speak so and the same was reiterated by the Egyptian President in his last speech

((والله غالبٌ على أمره ولكن أكثر الناس لا يعلمون))

"And Allah has full power and control over His Affairs, but most of men know not) yes, Allah Almighty has spoken the truth."

((ومن أصدق من الله حديثا))

"And who is truer in statement than Allah?"

Have we not conveyed the message? O Allah! Be our witness...Have we not conveyed the message? O Allah! Be our witness... Have we not conveyed the message? O Allah!  Be our witness. End.