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A Statement on the Importance of Getting Fatwa from its Reliable Sources to Maintain Unity of the Muslim Ummah
Author : The General Iftaa' Department
Date Added : 08-09-2022

A Statement on the Importance of Getting Fatwa from its Reliable Sources to Maintain Unity of the Muslim Ummah

 

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

We pray that Allah drives this epidemic and affliction away, blesses everyone with good health, cures all patients, and blesses our country with peace and security.

 

We remind our fellow citizens that the General Iftaa` Department receives all religious questions day and night. It is well known that the Muftis of this Department are specialized scholars and, in this regard, Allah Says (What mean): "And We sent not (as Our messengers) before thee other than men whom We inspired - Ask the followers of the Remembrance if ye know not! " [An-Nahil/43].

 

The Muftis-May Allah reward them with all that is good-shoulder the responsibility of answering questions in accordance with a moderate approach based on the Quran, Prophetic Sunna, and the Ijtihad conducted by the righteous predecessors from amongst the four schools of Islamic thought. However, they take into consideration: the situation of the questioners, customary practices as well as the differences of time and place upon which the rulings of Sharia are founded. 

 

Out of concern for maintaining the unity of the Muslim Ummah, Fatwa must be taken from its reliable source, which is the Iftaa` Department; particularly concerning public issues so as to achieve benefit and ward off evil. In fact, there were individuals from amongst the righteous predecessors who specialized in issuing Fatwa, such as the Mufti of Mecca and the Mufti of Medina…etcetera.

 

Consequently, we advise individuals, who aren`t in charge of delivering Fatwa, to stop doing that. This is because their Fatwa mostly represents one viewpoint that may not suit the everyday reality, leading to inciting the people and spreading doubts. In other words, its harm outweighs its benefit.

 

We call on all citizens not to take Fatwa from other than the Iftaa` Department, which is the reliable authority in charge of Fatwa affairs.

 

We also stress that the Muftis of our Department are willing to answer all questions all the time, be that via telephone, internet, or short messages. And All success is attributed to Allah.

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

"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 on a suitor (khāṭib) going out alone with his fiancée before the marriage contract is concluded?

It is unlawful for a suitor, prior to the marriage contract , to do anything that would be unlawful for any non-maḥram man — including touching his fiancée, being secluded with her (khalwah), or seeing her without her complete sharī‘ah-compliant covering — even after the recitation of al-Fātiḥah (This is a cultural custom to seek Allah's blessing (barakah) and mark mutual consent) and the family's approval [of the engagement]. This is because the engagement, without the formal marriage contract, does not render unlawful matters permissible. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling on waiving a debt owed by a debtor and counting it toward zakāh?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Waiving a debt owed by a debtor, with the intention of counting it toward zakāh, does not fulfill the zakāh obligation. Rather, it constitutes an ordinary act of charity, for which Allah rewards the giver generously — since one of the conditions for the validity of zakāh is that the person paying it must form the intention of zakāh at the actual moment the wealth is paid out. In this case, the debt has already been established as a standing obligation upon the borrower, so it is not valid to simply redirect the intention toward zakāh after the fact.
It is preferable, instead, for the creditor to first collect the debt from the debtor, and then return to him the amount of money he is required to pay as zakāh — or a portion of it — if the debtor happens to fall under one of the eight categories that Allah, the Exalted, has commanded be given from zakāh.
It is stated in ‘Umdat as-Sālik, from the books of the Shāfi‘ī school: "If someone gives [money] to a poor person, stipulating that the recipient return it to him in payment of a debt owed to him, or says, 'I am making what you owe me into zakāh, so take it [as such]' — this is not valid. But if he gives it to him with the [unstated] intention that the recipient will use it to repay him, or says, 'Repay what you owe me, so that I may [then separately] give it to you as zakāh,' or the debtor himself says, 'Give it to me, so that I may [then] repay you with it' — this is valid, and there is no binding obligation for the recipient to actually fulfill this [informal understanding]." And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Is it permissible for me to eat from the animal that I slaughtered for Allah to protect my family?

It is permissible to eat from the non-vowed animal sacrifice, and the person is rewarded based on the amount of meat that he had given to the poor. However, there is no evidence in Islamic Sharia indicating that slaughtering an animal protects one`s family, but it is a way for thanking Allah, The Almighty, for his grace.

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