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The Fatwa Approach Adopted at the General Ifta' De



Iftaa' Department


The Fatwa Approach Adopted at the General Ifta' Department

Issues of Fiqh (or Islamic jurisprudence) are variable, addressing all practices of people in all life aspects. Muslim scholars wrote down numerous Islamic provisions and legislations allowing the divine wisdom to illuminate people's lives. Those provisions have a solid base for their legislative and jurisprudence stemming from the basic legislation sources: the Holy Quran, Sunnah, Consensus, Analogy and common benefits. This Fiqh heritage has been collected in four Islamic schools of thought (Madhaheb): Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. It is agreed upon those schools (madhaheb), and they are accepted as the path to achieve Allah's blessings and to protect the welfare of people and countries.
Since the General Department of Al Ifta' has been a part of the scientific progress for the general Fiqh movement, it decided to adopt one of those four schools as a base for its Fatawa (answers) in order to achieve the benefits and goals of the Fiqh movement in the Islamic history. Those goals include:
1.  Being safe with Allah and in the Day of Judgment by not changing anything permitted by Allah in Islam.
2. Achieving moderation which is a fundamental in the Islamic Shari’a and has been a constant in the heritage of the Islamic Fiqh.
3. Avoiding contradicting sayings and abnormal views which may cause flaws in practical and intellectual life.
4. Regulating fatwa and eliminating useless disagreements as much as possible. 
5. Assisting Muftis (people who provide Fatwa) to learn the Islamic legislations easily as it may take a life time for a Mufti to study and give fresh rulings on every issue he is asked about. Thus, learning the fatwa of previous muftis is an inevitable solution.
Al Iftaa Department has chosen the school of Al Imam Al Shafi'i as a base to which it refers in providing fatwa for two reasons:
1. It is the most common school (Madhhab) in our countries in history. Following the majority and what is common is a goal.
2. It is a moderate school/Madhhab gathering between the foundations of schools of thought and hadith. This Madhhab originated Fiqh innovations which have been and still a cause in achieving the interests of the nation and unifying Muslims. Noteworthy that this cause has been achieved by other schools/Madhaheb but Al Imam Al shafi'i’s school/Madhhab has been leading in this field.
The Department of Ifta'a's commitment to this Madhhab doesn't mean absolute imitation of all the innovations of the Faqihs (experts in Islamic jurisprudence), but the department has its advanced approach in benefiting from all items and topics in other schools/madhaheb taking into consideration the following:
1. If the case is related to a contemporary issue not mentioned in previous fatwa/innovations by Faqihs, or if it is one of the general topics important to the society or the nation as a whole, either in financial transactions, medical issues or others, then Al Iftaa Department must prepare special studies to research the issue within the frame of the evidence in the Shari’a law and Fiqh rules. In addition, it tries to balance the cons and pros to conclude a fatwa to be presented to the Iftaa Council. The Council holds discussions in order to reach a decision about the needed issue.
2. If the innovation of the Shafi'i Madhhab concerning a certain issue was not corresponding to the changing time, place and conditions in the time when the question is raised for the Mufti, this matter may cause troubles. The Department of Al Iftaa re-searches the question in line with the Fiqh rules and Shari’a goals benefiting from the innovations of all Islamic schools/Madhaheb in order to issue the fatwa which is the closest to the Shari’a rules and purposes.
3. In personal status or issues like marriage, divorce, heritage and custody of children, the Department of Ifta'a refers to the Jordanian Personal Status Law in its Fatwas to avoid any difference between Iftaa and Legitimate Law in the Kingdom. The law however is based on the innovations and opinions of Muslim Faqihs, selected according to Shari’a disciplines by specialized committees.
In that ways the muftis deal with the questions sent to them through different communication methods, according to regulated and coordinated steps starting from identifying the type of question and ending with sending the answer as soon as possible. However, any delay might be caused by the detailed study for tens of issues handled by Al Iftaa Department on a daily basis especially that Muftis know that they will be asked by Allah about every word they write, thus they prefer not to be hasty in issuing fatwa and answering questions.  

Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on shaving one`s beard?

All Perefct Praise is due to Allah The Lord of The Worlds.

Growing a beard is an obligation and a Muslim shouldn't do otherwise, besides; what is obligatory in Islam shouldn't be violated save for a necessity. 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.

Is it permissible for a woman whose menses exceeded (15) days to pray, fast and do what was prohibited on her to do during the latter period?

If the menses exceeded 15 days then it is deemed menstruation, and in this case she is obliged to pray and fast and to do what was impermissible for her to do during the latter period. In addition, she is obliged to make an ablution for each obligatory prayer after it's due time and making sure that impuity is removed. Finally, your menstruation period is over (Questioner) simlar to your menstruation in the previos month.

My mother inherited a share from my late father`s and brother`s property; however, the inheritance, a piece of land, wasn`t divided amongst the eligible heirs because it was hard to sell. While alive, she used say that she wanted these shares to be distributed amongst the poor and needy. What is the ruling of Sharia on this?

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, and may His Peace and Blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all of his family and companions.
This is a will, so we have to consider the estate she had left behind. If the piece of land, which she had willed, equals one third and less of her estate, then the will must be executed. But, if it is more than one third, then one third must be executed and the rest of the estate, if the heirs agreed, is to be executed  as part of her will as well. However, if the heirs haven`t approved of that, then what remains, excluding that one third, must be divided amongst them according to the Islamic rules of inheritance. Moreover, we recommend that you pay a visit to the Iftaa` Department to make things clearer for you. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.

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