Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(193): "Ruling on Using the Zakah Money for the Treatment of the Poor at Al-Maqasid Alkhairiah Hospital"

Date Added : 22-11-2015

Resolution No.(193)(1/2014) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Using the Zakah Money for the Treatment of the Poor at Al-Maqasid Alkhairiah Hospital"

Date: 7/Rabee` Al-Awwal/1435 AH, corresponding to 9/1/2014 AD.

 

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds; and may His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

In its first session held on the above given date, the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies reviewed the letter of His Excellency-The Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, which reads as follows: Your Grace  knows that the Zakah Committee of Hai Nazal and Ad-dra` Al-Gharbi Area (East of Amman) functions under the umbrella of the Zakah Fund, and it has established a big charity-oriented project, which is “Al-Maqasid Al-Khairiah Hospital.“ It consists of seven floors built on a ten-thousand cubic meter lot of land, it takes a hundred and eleven beds, its cost  exceeds four million JDs, it has modern medical equipments, and a qualified staff have been hired to make it fully operational. The hospital offers its services to the public at minimum cost. However, the same service is provided to the poor after conducting field studies supervised by the Zakah Fund Committee which, in its turn, determines the exemptions and discounts to be offered to members of that class.

The Administrative Board of the Zakah Fund  has approved to give three thousand JDs to this hospital,  provided that the money is used to cover the treatment of the poor patients specified by the Fund, and that the whole matter be referred to the Iftaa` Board to clarify the Sharia ruling concerning it.

 After careful study and deliberation, the Board decided the following: 

Treating poor patients isn’t only a recommended act of charity but also a responsibility that must be shouldered by organizations and communities because failing to do so negates the principles of Islamic Sharia and humanity. The Prophet (PBUH) said in this regard: “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever". {Bukhari&Muslim}.

Since poverty and need are among the key channels of Zakah disbursement, as prescribed in the Holy Quran and according to the consensus of the Muslim scholars, the Board views that there is no harm in dedicating a sum of the Zakah money to cover the treatment expenses of the poor, or the needy so long as honesty in spending and justice in distribution are observed. In this case, the administration of the Zakah Fund functions as a proxy in transferring the Zakah into the possession of the poor; therefore, there is no harm if the Zakah takes the form of treatment since the Shafi`e School of Jurisprudence  and other scholars allowed the Zakah proxy: “to buy a medication to the poor” instead of giving him/her the money {Moghni Al-Mohtajj, vol.4/pp.186}. This way, the objective of Sharia is met, and the needs of the poor are attended to. This is because treatment is one of the most essential needs that should be met sufficiently. 

We advise the givers of Zakah to support this hospital, and we advise those in charge of it to Fear Allah and observe kindness as far as management and service are concerned, and to seek the reward from Allah Alone. And Allah Knows Best.

 

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board: The Mufti General of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

 His Grace Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khassawwneh

Vice-Chairmanof the Iftaa` Board: Prof. Ahmad Hilayel

Prof. Hayel Abdulhafeez/ Member

Prof. Abdulnasser Abu Al-Bassal

His Eminence Sheikh Sa`eed Hijjawi/ Member

Dr. Yahia Al-Bottoosh/Member

Prof. Mohammad Al-Qudah/Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh/Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Z`oubee/Member

Dr. Wassif Al-Bakhri/Member

 

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible for the young woman to turn the suitor down if she had no feelings for him?

Yes, it is permissible for her to do so.

I vowed to give a specific charity if a certain matter came to pass — what is the ruling on giving that charity before the matter is realised?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Fulfilling a vow (nadhr) is obligatory, in accordance with the word of Allah the Almighty: "And let them fulfil their vows." [Al-Ḥajj/ 29] And the saying of our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him." (Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
The Shāfiʿī scholars distinguished between a financial vow (nadhr mālī) and a bodily vow (nadhr badanī). They permitted the fulfilment of a financial vow to be brought forward — before the stipulated condition is met — but did not permit the same for a bodily vow, which may only be fulfilled after the condition has actually been realised.
Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "It is permissible to bring forward the fulfilment of a financial vow before the condition stipulated in it is met — such as saying: 'If I am healed, I vow to free a slave' or 'to give such-and-such in charity' — just as it is permissible to pay zakāh in advance. This is unlike a bodily vow, such as fasting." [Asnā al-Maṭālib, vol. 4/P.246]
Imām al-Bājūrī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Like expiation other than fasting, a financial vow — such as saying: 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave for the sake of Allah,' or 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave on the Friday following the recovery' — it is permissible to bring it forward before the recovery in the first case, and before the Friday following the recovery in the second case." [Ḥāshiyat al-Bājūrī ʿalā Sharḥ Ibn Qāsim, Vol.2/P.596] And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What should a person do if they suffer from an incurable illness that prevents them from fasting?

A person who has an illness that is not expected to be cured and prevents them from fasting must feed a needy person one mudd (600 grams) of food (such as wheat or rice) for each missed day instead of fasting.
Allah Almighty says {what means}: "and [in such cases] it is incumbent upon those who can afford it to make sacrifice by feeding a needy person." [Al-Baqarah/184].

Who is responsible for performing the aqiqah?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
The one upon whom the 'aqīqah is incumbent is whoever is obligated to financially maintain the newborn — whether the father, paternal grandfather, or mother. It is to be performed from their own wealth, not from the wealth of the newborn child.
As for one upon whom the financial maintenance of the newborn is not obligatory, they may not perform the 'aqīqah except with the permission of the one upon whom it is obligatory — namely, the father. And Allah Almighty knows best.