Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(58): “Which Party is Responsible for Settling the Usurious Interests In the Following Financial Dispute?“

Date Added : 02-11-2015

 

Resolution No.(58): “Which Party is Responsible for Settling the Usurious Interests In the Following Financial Dispute?“

Date: 9/11/1422 AH corresponding to 23/1/2002 AD.

 

The Board received the following question:

A citizen had obtained a license for a taxicab agency, so he asked me to buy him a certain brand of cars from a neighboring country because I have an automobile agency. We have agreed upon paying me half of the price in advance, I pay the other half, I process the cars through customs, licensing Dept. and register them in the name of his taxicab agency i.e. his name, and then he pays me the other half afterwards.

After I have delivered my end of the deal and mortgaged the cars to the Jordan-Kuwait Bank, he backed down and didn`t pay the second half due on him, rather, he requested allocating that sum, so I was forced to withdraw my investment account at the Jordan-Islamic Bank, which led my accounts in other banks to be in the red. As a result, the Jordan-Kuwait Bank started charging interests and I was forced to make a new arrangement with the debtor whereby he shall pay the second half of the sum divided over twelve bills in addition to paying an increase over the commission agreed upon earlier. However, before paying the last three bills, I remitted the debtor from half of the agreed upon increase. My question is of three parts:

1- Who is to pay off the interests of the Jordan-Kuwait Bank?

2- Is it permissible for me to calculate the profits that were lost because of withdrawing my investment account at the Jordan-Islamic Bank?

3- What is the Sharia ruling on the increase, which we have agreed upon in return for allocating the second half of the sum due on the debtor?

Answer: All success is due to Allah.

1- The increase agreed upon with the owner of the taxicab agency against (debtor) his delay in payment is unlawful and it is impermissible for the creditor to take it because it is a forbidden interest. Allah Says in this regard {what means}: “but God hath permitted trade and forbidden usury.” {Al-Baqarah/275}.

2- In case the owner of the automobile agency took the aforementioned interest, he should give it back to the owner of the taxicab agency. If that wasn`t possible, then he should give it as charity or spend it in charitable causes and in favor of Muslims` public interest because it is ill-gotten money.

3- The interests charged on the owner of the automobile agency due to the overdrawing of his account are to be settled by him because they are forbidden and resulted from his dealing with a non-Islamic bank. In addition, it is imperative that he avoids dealing in usurious interests, seeks forgiveness of Allah and makes genuine repentance to Him. Allah Says {what means}: “O ye who believe! Fear God, and give up what remains of your demand for usury, if ye are indeed believers. If ye do it not, Take notice of war from God and His Apostle: But if ye turn back, ye shall have your capital sums: Deal not unjustly, and ye shall not be dealt with unjustly.” {Al-Baqarah/278}. And Allah Knows Best.

 

Iftaa` Board

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board, Chief Justice, Izz Al-Deen Al-Tamimi

               Dr. Mohammad Abu Yahia     

                                                                    Dr. Ahmad Hilayil

                Dr. Abdulsalam Al-Abbadi       

               Sheikh Mahmoud Shwayyaat

    Dr. Yousef Gheezaan

Dr. Wasif Al-Bakhri

   Sheikh Saeid Hijjawi

      Sheikh Naeim Mujahid

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is incumbent upon the one offering the sacrifice if, after slaughtering the animal, they discover that one of its internal organs is damaged or diseased?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The presence of disease or defect in the internal organs of a sheep does not affect the validity of the sacrificial animal, unless the disease leads to the animal becoming emaciated and its meat becoming corrupted.
 
It is stated in al-Iqnā' (2/590) by Imam al-Shirbīnī: "The third disqualifying condition: an animal with a manifest illness — meaning one whose illness visibly results in emaciation and corruption of its meat. However, if the illness is minor and does not produce such effects, it doesn`t affect the validity of the sacrificed animal." And Allah Almighty knows best.

"I told my family at night: 'I will fast tomorrow as qaḍā' (a make-up fast),' but I forgot to make the intention before sleeping. Is my fast valid?"

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
 
The intention is obligatory in acts of worship. For obligatory fasting, the required intention is to resolve to fast during the night [before dawn]. Its proper locus is the heart, while verbalizing the intention out loud in acts of worship is a sunnah — so that the tongue may align with the heart. If the intent behind the statement in question was the intention to fast, then it is valid; but if the intent was merely to inform someone, or reflected hesitation or doubt, then it is not valid.
 
It is stated in *Bushrā al-Karīm* (Vol.1/P.216): "It is a sunnah to verbalize the intention — that is, whatever has already been intended in the heart, whether an obligatory or a voluntary act — such as specifying the number of rak‘ahs, just before the opening takbīr — so that the tongue may assist the heart, and because this is further removed from whispered doubts (waswasah), and in order to accommodate the view of those who held it obligatory in every act of worship that requires an intention (even though this is a minority position), by analogy with Ḥajj."
 
Accordingly: if the intention to fast arose in your heart before the second adhān [i.e., before Fajr], then your fast is valid.
 
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law regarding one who slaughters a ewe and it turns out to have been pregnant, and is it permissible to slaughter the ewe if one knows it is pregnant?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
If a person slaughters a ewe and it turns out to have been pregnant, the fetus becomes lawful (ḥalāl) by virtue of its mother's slaughter (tabaʿan li-ummihā).
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vol.6/P.158): "A fetus found dead [after the mother's slaughter], or found alive but in a state resembling that of a slaughtered animal [i.e., dying shortly after], becomes lawful — whether or not it had grown fur — provided it is found in the womb of a mother that was lawfully slaughtered, whether her slaughter was by cutting the throat, or by an arrow or hunting dog sent after her. This is based on the ḥadīth: 'The slaughtering of the fetus is [effected by] the slaughtering of its mother' [narrated by al-Tirmidhī, who graded it ḥasan, and by Ibn Ḥibbān, who graded it ṣaḥīḥ] — meaning that the slaughter which rendered the mother lawful renders the fetus lawful as well, by virtue of following her; and because the fetus is one of her constituent parts, and her slaughter renders lawful all of her parts."
This ruling differs, however, from the case of one who knows from the outset that the ewe is pregnant [and intends to sacrifice her specifically as the udḥiyah while pregnant] — in which case, according to the Shāfi'ī school, she does not fulfill the requirement of a valid sacrifice.
It is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī 'alā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.4/P.335): "A pregnant animal does not fulfill the requirement [of a valid sacrifice], and this is the authoritative position (al-mu'tamad), because pregnancy diminishes the quality of the meat. As for why such an animal is nevertheless counted as complete [i.e., fully valid] in matters of zakāh, that is because the intent there is reproduction (nasl), not the quality of the meat.". And Allah, the Most High, knows best.

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).