Answer: There is nothing wrong for you in making a marriage ceremony with a justice of peace for legal purposes if you have already performed the nikah as required by Islam. It is also equally permissible for a Muslim bride to walk down the aisle for this purpose.

Having said this, however, it had been ideal and advisable for you to get everything done in one simple ceremony: combining both religious and legal if you are living in a city where there is a mosque; for generally the imams have the license to solemnize marriage according to the laws of the province; and so he would be able to complete both requirements, religious and legal, in which case no such question would ever arise.

Answer: There is nothing in the authentic sources to forbid men from wearing of rings on the right hand on any finger. As Imam Nawawi states, “Jurists are unanimous on the permissibility of wearing rings on right or left hands, and that there is no undesirability in it; however, they differ in regards to which one is preferable; many of the pious elders wore rings on the right hand, while others wore on left; Imam Malik preferred to wear the ring on left…” He further adds, “According to the authentic view of our school, it is preferred that one wears the ring on the right, for it is comes under the category of beautifying oneself, and therefore it is more apt to do so on the right hand.”

Answer: Allah has promised to preserve the Qur’an intact until the Last Hour. He has done it all through the centuries. The Qur’an has, thus, been impeccably preserved unaltered and un-tampered with like no other scripture in the world. Through the grace of our Lord, this is how the Qur’an will remain, no matter how many false copies are made and distributed. These false copies will never be accepted as the Qur’an, which cannot be anything but the Word of Allah in its entirety.

Even if, God forbid, all of the printed copies of the Qur’an were to disappear form the face of the earth, it would be restored as it has been memorized by millions of people, young and old, throughout the world. So never harbour any doubts about the authenticity of the Qur’an or the divine promise of its preservation. Allah says, “We have revealed the Reminder and We have taken upon ourselves the duty of preserving it intact.” (Qur’an: Chapter 15: 9)

Answer: It is not a good idea to give a short talk after every prayer without giving people a break; for by doing so people may be conditioned to think that it is integral part of salah. This has indeed happened in some communities in similar cases: Take for example the case of the collective du’a which some imams are in the habit of making after each and every salah, although it was not done by the Prophet, peace be upon him or the salaf al-ssalih (pious predecessors); nor was it prescribed in any of the four schools. It was introduced with a good intention in countries where people were new to Islam; thus they thought it would be hard on them to learn and retain du’as; so in order to facilitate their learning of transmitted du’as the practice of collective du’as after every prayer was introduced. Unfortunately, as the people have become used to it, they are often under the impression that it is integral part of salah; so many of them now seem to think that salah is incomplete without collective dua; thus they ended up distorting the very form of salah as transmitted by the Prophet, peace be upon him.

It is therefore advisable for imams to stay away from establishing such a precedent of giving a short talk after every salah; there is nothing wrong, however, in doing so occasionally. Let us never forget the Prophet’s dictum, “Pray as you have seen me praying.”