Majed Jarrar

1. When asking for fatwa regarding a specific matter = apply the 'going to the doctor' analogy. Choose a mufti/doctor whom you trust their knowledge and integrity. Ask them. Whatever their answer is, you are personally obliged to follow it. If you strongly believe they misunderstood your question, then go ask someone else. It is not permissible to shop around for different fatwas/prescriptions from different people then choose the one you like.

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2. When learning Islam = follow the 'going to school' analogy. Choose the school that is reasonably close to your home and aligns with your goals. Then, learn the basic subjects first before you move to the more advanced ones - even if the more advanced may appear very interesting. You can change schools whenever you want but it will delay your learning because sometimes you will have to go a step back to catch basic things in the other school you might have missed.

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Important final note. Being a layperson doesn't mean you can remain ignorant about Islam. Every Muslim should finish at least a 'primary education' level of Islam, beyond which they are free to pursuit it or not. The less learnt the laypeople are about Islam, the more exhausted our muftis become answering rudimentary questions about purification, prayer and pilgrimage. The more learnt the lay Muslims are, the more time muftis can have to deal with advanced and complex questions.

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ِAlaikum assalam, As I've said before, there is a religious purpose and great wisdom behind each and every one of the marriages of the prophet - peace and blessings upon him.
1. Yes, wars do have different rulings in most matters. A slave woman captured in battle has the iddah of one menstrual cycle, while a slave woman who was divorced at peace has the iddah of two menstrual cycles. The prophet took Safiyya, and asked Umm Saleem to take care of her until she finished her menstruation, then beautify her. When she finished he freed her and married her.
2. It is important to note first that the prophet, was sent as a mercy to all humankind, and a role model to all Muslims. God Almighty sent him to complete the ethics of humanity.
His marriage to Safiyya, the daughter of the leader of the Jewish tribes of Khaiber, was to grant security to the Jews of Khaibar - who became the in-laws of the prophet. Enmity between the Jews of Khaibar and the surrounding Arab tribes pre-dated Islam. Muslims (and Arabs) had never married Jewish women, nor a woman from a tribe at war with Muslims, nor the daughter of a prominent religious figure of another religion. Those were all taboos. The prophet married her to set the precedence, break those social taboos, grant security to her people and remove enmity from the hearts of the believers. May the peace and blessings from Allah be bestowed upon him, his family and companions.

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Thanks alone to Allah for concealing my shortcomings, but I am less than what you think.
My first independent pursuit of Islamic studies began in Jordan over a few summers in the mid 2000s, where I received the ijaza in Quran, six in uloom hadeeth, studied parts of sahih al bukhari, and learnt some hanafi fiqh and usool, at the hands of different Palestinian, Syrian and Jordanian scholars in Jordan, including some of sheikh alAlbani's oldest students. Then I traveled to Egypt for nearly six years, where I did my undergrad. I studied the Quran, aqeedah, Shafi'i and Hanbali fiqh extensively, as well as parts of Bukhari and Muslim, at the hands of some of Egypt's most prominent scholars. Started to build my own library. I joined American Open University for Islamic Studies but didn't finish a degree. Then I returned to Canada in 2012, and continued to study online through whatsapp, telegram, skype, hangout, etc. I studied mostly fiqh and usool, but I also studied some hadeeth, and received ijazas for over forty books of hadeeth with connected sanad to the prophet - peace be upon him, including Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmithi, Abu Dawood, Nasaa'i, Ibn Maja, Muwatta' Imam Malik, and of course, Musnad Imam Ahmed, may Allah have mercy upon them all. I also joined Islamic Online University and currently at the last semester to finish a graduate diploma in Islamic studies.
Having said the above, I can't stress enough that acquiring ijazas should never be a goal. It was never a goal for me. I have never asked for an ijaza from someone in my life. My goal was to learn the good they had. I had peers who acquired hundreds of ijazas and tazkiyas within the same time frame, and are still mixed up about so many things in religion. The manners and wisdom I have sought, sitting by the feet of scholars, surpasses all the chains, ijazas, degrees and books I have studied.
Set your ultimate goal to be earning the pleasure of Allah. Don't be attached to smaller achievements in life. Dedicating yourself to seeking Islamic knowledge is only one path, taken by very few people. Ask Allah to guide you to His pleasure. Take whichever path Allah puts you which pleases Him, and excel in that path = that, will be your profound success.

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