Rav Ovadia Yosef Has Some Catching Up To Do

The New Republic blog The Plank has a funny post about Sayyid Ali Kameini’s website. Now, I’m not surprised that the Supreme Leader of Iran has a website (if they’re building nukes they have probably mastered basic HTML) but the Plank points us to the Q&A section which really is priceless:

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Q: A car’s tires crushed a cat’s dead body in the street. If tires become najis with the cat’s blood, do they become pure by going on street asphalt immediately after crushing the body?
A: If tires become najis, they do not become pure just by moving on the street paved with asphalt.

Q: During the menstrual period is a woman allowed to dye her hair with henna? And is the use of an artificial dye for the same purpose allowed?
A: It is permissible, yet disliked.

Q: What is the ruling on billiards. What is your opinion respecting it?
A: If it is played with betting, leads to moral or social corruptions or entails association with a haram practice as per shar`, it is impermissible.

Q: After reciting the formula of the permanent marriage contract, if it appears that the wife was not virgin, is the contract void? Is there a need to recite the divorce formula?
A: By itself, the said defect does not entail revoking the marriage contract.

Q: Is Friday prayer obligatory? What about someone who do not participate in it intentionally?
A: Friday prayer is considered an alternative obligation during this period of time that the infallible Imam( may Allah hasten his reappearance) is not present. One has the choice to perform either Friday or zuhr prayer although it is preferred to say Friday prayer and it is religiously dispraised when one does not attend or participate in this religious and political prayer out of not considering it important.

Q: Some fluid is discharged on sexual stimulation, whether it is intentional or unintentional. Is it pure or najis? Is it ruled as manī?
A: For a man, it is ruled manÄ« and makes janÄbah ghusl obligatory only if its coming out is accompanied by sexual pleasure, ejaculation, and weakness of the body. For a woman, it is ruled as manÄ« when its coming out is accompanied by orgasm. Otherwise, nothing is obligatory.

In some ways this reminds me of rabbinic responsa I studied in high school, and in other ways it reminds me of the questions that people send in to us at MJL. My real question is, when is Rav Ovadia Yosef going to get with the program and start his own website?

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