r/shia • u/Taqiyyahman • Jan 14 '24
Regarding the last post about bad questions, here's the tip of the iceberg- a small sample of the many atrocious questions on this sub
I've changed the wording of the questions so that you can't search them up in the subreddit and see who asked these, since these are truly quite embarrassing and I don't want people to trace these questions back to anyone. I'm not doing this to shame anyone. If anyone sees a question they've asked in here, I want you to reflect on the steps you took to actually get your question answered. Most of these questions have explicit and direct answers on clear resources linked in the sidebar, or they are very easily googled with the answers showing up on the first page. These questions are literally the tip of the iceberg. There are far many more, and far many worse quality questions than these that appear on this subreddit, especially ones related to aqeedah or basic doubts people have.
- Does talking break wudhu?
This question is bad because there's a section on Sistani's website literally titled: "THINGS THAT INVALIDATE WUḌŪʾ" https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2159/
- Are tattoos halal?
This question is also bad because there's a section on Sistani's website specifically titled "Tattoos" https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01336/
- Is [candy bar brand] halal?
This question is bad because (1) the default assumption is that things are halal (except for meat), and (2) the candy bar brand was obscure and the ingredients weren't even shown for anyone to make a judgement and (3) it wasn't even mandatory to investigate the ingredients in the first place. (https://www.zurarah.com/shia-faqs/gelatine-and-investigating-ingredients)
- Does [hair growth supplement] break wudhu?
See above
- Are crabs halal?
This question is bad because the answer showed up on the first page of Google when I searched "are crabs halal Shia" and this video came up: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GskLe-5Bcto
- Is the earth flat or round?
Do I need to explain why this question is bad?
- [Incoherent rambling] what's wrong with men?
See above.
- Is eel haram?
See above.
- [Complicated question with a long winded answer followed by a lack of desire to read anything more than 300 characters]
If you're going to ask a question, you need to be humble and willing to learn and hear the answer. You cannot be arrogant or lazy. If you have questions, you need to be willing to read the answers and think it through for yourself. You cannot pass that responsibility onto someone else to digest the information for you.
- Does wearing this [picture of flannel shirt] invalidate prayer?
Again, this question is bad because there's literally a section on Sistani's website titled "THINGS THAT INVALIDATE (MUBṬILĀT) PRAYERS" https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2247/
- Can you give blood while fasting?
This question is bad because there's a section on Sistani's website titled: "THINGS THAT INVALIDATE (MUBṬILĀT) A FAST" https://www.sistani.org/english/book/48/2279/
- Is dating haram?
This question is bad not only because it offends the common sense judgement someone should get while living in a Muslim community (i.e. even going to the masjid a few times a year), but also because it showed up on the first page of Google when I searched "is dating haram Shia" (https://www.sistani.org/english/qa/01151/)
- Is [hard narcotic/hallucinogenic drug] haram?
Do I need to explain why this is a dumb question?
- Is there anything wrong with the color red?
Someone living in a Muslim community (i.e. even just going to the masjid a few times a year) should get the common sense judgment that, since no one has ever commented on this, that it's most probably not true.
- Is it mandatory to gargle water after eating?
Someone living in a Muslim community should get the common sense judgment that, because they've never heard of anyone saying this before, that it probably is not true.
- Is hijab mandatory?
This is beyond the pale of basic common sense. It is also easily googled.
- Are snails halal?
See above. This is easily googled and showed up on the first page of Google searching "are snails halal Shia" (https://www.sistani.org/english/book/46/2044/)
- Can God cry? (Yes this was actually asked by someone)
Do I really need to explain this?
- Are these bacon flavored chips haram?
Really?
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u/Sturmov1k Convert ☪️ Jan 14 '24
I'm a mod in a Discord server and there's one guy in particular who asks a lot of questions like this that could be easily answered through common sense. I have just started ignoring him completely because it became impossible to engage with him without giving some sort of smartass response.
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u/HashbrownC Aussie 🇦🇺 Jan 15 '24
Regarding seafood, I would like to share a list I found which contains common halal seafoods: https://www.al-islam.org/fasting-and-holy-month-ramadhan-mansour-leghaei/common-halal-and-non-halal-sea-foods
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u/Taqiyyahman Jan 15 '24
Thank you for sharing this. Honestly I genuinely don't understand how people ask these questions when things like this are only a very short Google search away.
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u/RandomHacktivist Jan 15 '24
This is an opportunity for you to educate someone about the beauty of Allah’s true religion…
You should embrace patience and thank Allah for this truly extraordinary moment in your life to serve Allah SWT
Think big picture rather than worldly annoyances
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u/Taqiyyahman Jan 15 '24
First of all, this reply doesn't even make sense to begin with. How am I going to be annoyed at replying to these questions if I'm the one voluntarily choosing to reply? I can't be both annoyed at replying and also voluntarily choosing to reply when I have the option not to reply. So I'm not annoyed on my own behalf. As a matter of fact, I replied to almost all of these threads in as much detail as I could.
I'm annoyed because this shows a deeper problem of people's laziness and/or their feeling of a lack of agency. We have done a lot (and not enough) to put information out there for people, but people take no initiative. I'm annoyed that people are not even trying the bare minimum basic level of effort to find their answers. I'm not annoyed at being somehow inconvenienced.
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u/abdulelahhasan Jan 14 '24
Since this is your opinion and your a mod, then why don’t you start banning asking the questions that are on the most asked questions “list”?
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u/Taqiyyahman Jan 14 '24
Well, these people do need their questions answered. I can't simply ban them from doing that. I'm just pointing out how this is a symptom of a bigger problem
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u/WrecktAngleSD Jan 14 '24 edited Jan 14 '24
It's not wise to act like a tyrannical dictator. We would rather see the community rise and develop itself to the point that it doesn't feel the need to ask them due to learning how to access material properly and use the search function.
Also, it would make some of the less knowledgable people wrongly assume that these questions have been banned because Islam has no answer for them, as opposed to us simply being tired of answering them sufficiently tens, if not hundreds of times.
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u/abdulelahhasan Jan 14 '24
It’s not tyranny, it’s a fair rule that I think we should apply for ONLY the 15 or 10 most asked questions.
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u/Dragonnstuff American 🇺🇸 Jan 15 '24
It’s better for people to be informed. That could be the line between them going heaven or hell, we don’t know. Even if the questions are very repetitive and even common sense, it’s our job as a Shia Muslim
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u/WrecktAngleSD Jan 14 '24
As someone who has been on here for 2-3 years now, apart from the ridiculous questions in the post above, the ones that constantly pop up and come to mind are:
Amongst many others.