I took a housing loan from the bank for a 20-year period. Four years have passed, and I recently learned that this loan is usurious. I wish to perform Umrah. Am I permitted to perform it? If not, what should I do?
You are permitted to perform Umrah. Strive to repay the debt in hopes of reducing the amount of usurious interest. Allah Says (What means): "And there are others who have acknowledged their sins. They had mixed a righteous deed with another that was bad. Perhaps Allah will turn to them in forgiveness. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." [At-Tawbah/102]. And Allah Knows Best.
Should one who doesn`t perform prayer out of laziness make it up later, and how should he/she do so?
All perfect praise be to Allah,The Lord of The Worlds He/she is obliged to make up missed prayers by offering with each obligatory prayer another one, and if he/she offers two, then it is better. And Allah Knows Best.
Is it permissible to pay the expiation of an oath to a charitable party as it feeds the poor and needy such as Tkiyet Um Ali?
There is no harm on authorizing someone to handle the expiation of another to the poor and needy, since Shafiee's jurists stated that authorizing someone for the purpose of distributing Zakah, expiation and vow is permissible as stated in [Mughni Al-Muhtajj,vol.3/pp.237]. At last, the intention of the person who intends to authorize someone else suffices in this regard. And Allah Knows Best.
I`m a university student. While I was sitting for an exam, the professor caught my fellow student cheating. I heard him telling her to hide the dossier. After the exam, he asked me to testify that I saw her cheating although I heard him telling her to hide the dossier but didn`t see her cheating. What is the ruling of Sharia on this?
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.
It was narrated that the Prophet (PBUH) said to a man: "Do you see the sun?" He replied: "Yes." He said: "Give witness in a similar case [which is as clear as the sun], or leave it." [Reported by Al-Baihaqhi in "Sho`ab Al-Eman" pp.10964]. Therefore, it is not permissible to testify about something that you haven`t actually seen. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.
