What is the ruling on having brotherly ties between a strange man and a strange woman, and is the former considered a Mahram (unmarriageable) to the latter?
Such a relation between a strange man and a strange woman is forbidden in Islam because it involves forbidding what Allah has allowed by marriage, and allowing what Allah has forbidden such as looking and the like. Such a relation doesn`t render any act lawful between them, thus they are forbidden to look at each other, have a Khulwah (seclusion), and travel together.
What is the best manner in distributing the meat of the Aqeeqah?
It is better to divide all of it as cooked meat amongst the poor and the needy. Dividing it into three portions is a Sunnah, but it is permissible to keep all of it provided that a portion, even a small one, is given to the poor and needy (one kilo for example).
Is it permissible to pay the expiation of an oath to a charitable party as it feeds the poor and needy such as Tkiyet Um Ali?
There is no harm on authorizing someone to handle the expiation of another to the poor and needy, since Shafiee's jurists stated that authorizing someone for the purpose of distributing Zakah, expiation and vow is permissible as stated in [Mughni Al-Muhtajj,vol.3/pp.237]. At last, the intention of the person who intends to authorize someone else suffices in this regard. And Allah Knows Best.
During a flight from Amman to the UAE, while we were flying over Saudi Arabia, the captain announced that it was time to break our fast, coinciding with the exact time of sunset. After I had broken my fast with my first date, the captain apologized for the earlier announcement and clarified that the correct time would be in 20 minutes. Am I required to continue fasting on that day?
Whosoever break his fast at teh very first announcement to make up the missed day of Ramadan, since Allah, The Most Exalted, Said (What means): "then complete your fast Till the night appears" [Al-Baqara/187]. And Allah Knows Best.
