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Beirut Declaration for a Clear Religious Information
Author : Dar El-Fatwa in Lebanon
Date Added : 28-12-2015

Beirut Declaration for a Clear Religious Information

 

On Dec. 21st, 2015, the Muftis of the Sunni community in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon signed a joint declaration. It is entitled the "Beirut Declaration for a Clear Religious Information", and it reads as follows:

In light of the aggravating phenomenon of extremism in the Arab and Muslim countries, its employment of social media to instigate killing, exemplary punishment and labeling others with disbelief (Takfir), which belittles religions, manners, principles of communal living, private and public freedoms, the tendencies of the youth, the image of Islam and the Arabs before the world and taking into consideration that the religious invitation is a plain statement to communities and the whole world, the above Muftis, out of their religious and brotherly ties, address the Arab, Muslim and international audience with the following statement which includes five points:

 

First: Renewed commitment to the development of a moderate and reforming religious discourse including the propagation of the values of tolerance and moderation, the strengthening of peace in the society, the re-establishment of trust between generations, support for traditions of communal living and arriving at mutual terms with the world.

 

Second: Renewed commitment to the development of a clear religious information that includes the values of acceptance of others at a religious, national or global level, as well as the peaceful resolution of differences in a space of equal and mutual trust.

 

Third: Cooperation between the departments empowered to issue religious decrees (fatwa) in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, at the level of exchange of information and experiences, mutual visits, to combat religious extremism and all other extremists who threaten the security of Arab societies, their unity and their stability.

 

Fourth: Cooperation between Muslim and Christian religious leaders in the setting up of an observatory of coexistence, which will be based in Beirut.

 

Fifth: The exhortation addressed to the Arab media, private and public, to responsibly report religious information, leaving aside anything that may exacerbate religious sensitivities in a context of discrimination and misinformation. It should also be noted that the first and second points of the declaration deal respectively with sermons in mosques as well as current and widespread religious information in the media.

 

Lebanon has always been a country of religious freedoms, equal and responsible coexistence as well as clear and advanced information. At an era of revolutionized media and means of communication, we hope that Beirut will play a pioneering and clear role in promoting values of political moderation and social stability from the perspective of religious values as well as help the world to create an open image about the Arabs and Muslims.

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on wiping the front of the head beneath the ḥijāb, and is it permissible to wipe over the ḥijāb if it was put on while in a state of purification (wudu`)?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is permissible to wipe the front portion of the head (nāṣiyah) with the fingertips. It is likewise sufficient to place a wet hand over a head covering (ḥijāb), provided the moisture actually reaches the hair beneath it — if it does not, it does not suffice. A head covering is not treated in the same manner as leather socks (khuff) and may not be wiped over in lieu of the head itself.
Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.1/P.407): "If a person is wearing a turban and does not wish to remove it — whether for a valid reason or otherwise — he should wipe the entire front portion of the head... The same ruling applies to whatever a woman wears on her head. If, however, he confines himself to wiping over the turban without wiping any part of the head itself, this does not suffice — and there is no disagreement among us on this point." He further states: "A woman is like a man in the manner of wiping the head... She should insert her hand beneath her head covering so that the wiping falls upon the hair itself. If she places her wet hand over her head covering, our scholars stated: if the moisture does not reach the hair, it does not suffice her." And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Is the marriage, which lacks a valid legal contract, a guardian, and a court registration, valid?

It is incumbent that a valid marriage contract be concluded in the presence of a guardian and two trustful witnesses, and it should be registered in the court to protect the rights of the wife. Actually, a valid marriage contract is what differentiates between sound marriage and fornication.

What is the ruling on performing the night prayer (*qiyām al-layl*) between the first and second adhān of Fajr? And which is better: delaying the prayer until shortly before the Fajr adhān, or performing it earlier than that?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The time for night prayer (qiyām al-layl) begins after the Maghrib prayer and lasts until the second adhān of Fajr. The best time for it is the last third of the night, and best of all are the fourth and fifth sixths of the night. If the night is divided into two halves, the latter half is better.
Whoever intends to pray at night is encouraged to delay the Witr until he has prayed the night prayer. If he knows that he will not wake up, it is better for him to pray and perform Witr before sleeping, so that he does not miss both the night prayer and the Witr.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vpl.1/p.462): “I say: The voluntary prayer of the night, that is, the absolute voluntary prayer (al-nafl al-muṭlaq), is better than the absolute voluntary prayer of the day, because of the report in Muslim: ‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.’ In another narration of his: ‘In the night there is an hour that no Muslim man meets while asking Allah for any good of this world and the next except that He gives it to him, and that is every night.’ It is also because the night is a time of heedlessness. I restricted the voluntary prayer to the absolute kind following the commentator, although what the ḥadīth and the underlying meaning require is that the night rawātib be preferred over the day rawātib, since the jurists preferred the two rakʿahs of Fajr over everything except Witr. The middle of the night is better than its two ends if it is divided into thirds, because heedlessness is greatest then and worship is hardest. If he wishes to pray during some third, the best is the fourth and fifth sixths, based on the ḥadīth in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: ‘The most beloved prayer to Allah the Exalted is the prayer of Dāwūd: he would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth.’ Then the latter part is better than the first if he divides it into two halves, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ‘And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness’ [al-Dhāriyāt: 18], and the report of the two Shaykhs: ‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends,’ meaning His command descends, ‘to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”
It is also stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (p. 60): “It is better to perform it [the Witr] immediately after the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, unless he has tahajjud, in which case it is better to delay it so that he performs Witr after it. If he performs Witr and then wishes to pray tahajjud, he prays two rakʿahs at a time and does not repeat the Witr, nor does he need to cancel it with a single rakʿah before the tahajjud. It is recommended that he not deliberately pray after it.”
Qiyām al-layl is a term applied to any prayer performed at night. Tahajjud, on the other hand, refers to the night prayer that follows sleep, whether it is prayed after Maghrib or after ʿIshāʾ, or the prayer performed after ʿIshāʾ without sleep. On this basis, the Witr is also called tahajjud, since it is only prayed after ʿIshāʾ.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.4/p.84): “The sound position, as stated in al-Umm and al-Mukhtaṣar, is that the Witr is called tahajjud.”
It is stated in Nihāyat al-Zayn (Vol.1/p.114): “Among the absolute voluntary prayers is qiyām al-layl. If it is performed after sleep, even during the time of Maghrib and after having prayed ʿIshāʾ early (taqdīman), it is called tahajjud.”
And it is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.1/p.418): “His statement: ‘(the night prayer)’: the genitive construction (iḍāfah) carries the sense of fī, meaning a prayer in the night. His statement: ‘(it would be more fitting)’: the reason it is more fitting is that the night prayer includes both tahajjud and other prayers.” And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on the use of an inhaler by a *muḥrim* (a person in the state of *iḥrām*)? [An inhaler is a medicinal device used for inhalation, containing various herbal ingredients.]؟

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is permissible for the muḥrim (a person in the state of iḥrām) to use incense (bakhūr), sprays, and inhalers that contain aromatic substances for the purpose of treatment, because the intention is medical treatment, not the use of perfume (taṭayyub). No expiation (fidyah) is required of him for doing so.
It is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.2/p.455): “That which is intended for eating or for medical treatment, even if it has a pleasant scent, such as apples, spikenard (sunbul), and the various fragrant spices such as mastic (muṣṭakā), is not forbidden, and no fidyah is due for it, because what is intended for eating or treatment carries no fidyah.”. And Allah Almighty knows best.

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