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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

When does the time for Udhiyah begin?

 
In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The permissible timeframe for Udhiyah (sacrificial offering) begins on the day of Eid al-Adha—the 10th of Dhul-Hijjah—once the sun has risen and a period of time sufficient to perform two brief prayer units (Rak'ahs) and two short sermons (Khutbahs) has passed. This window remains open until the sun sets on the final day of Tashreeq, which is the 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.
 
Our Master, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), said: "Every valley of Mina is a place of sacrifice, and slaughtering may be done throughout all the days of Tashreeq." (Narrated by Al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hibban)
 
The days of Tashreeq refer to the 11th, 12th, and 13th of Dhul-Hijjah.
 
The most virtuous time to perform the sacrifice is immediately after concluding the Eid prayer, based on the statement of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "The first thing we do on this day of ours is to pray, then we return and offer our sacrifice. Whoever does that has acted in accordance with our Sunnah (tradition), and whoever slaughters before that, it is merely meat he has provided for his family; it has nothing to do with the ritual sacrifice." (Reported by Al-Bukhari and Muslim)
 
What is meant here is an estimation of time rather than the actual performance of the prayer itself, as our Master, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), used to offer the Eid al-Adha prayer immediately after sunrise.
 
The sacrifice is valid if performed at any time during these designated days, whether by day or by night, though slaughtering at night is considered disliked (Makruh). And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.

What is the ruling on a woman who learns of her divorce or her husband's death after her *ʿiddah* has ended? And does the *ʿiddah* of a woman who abandoned mourning (*iḥdād*) for the whole period of the *ʿiddah*, or part of it, still end, even though she knew that abandoning it is forbidden?**

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The waiting period of a widow who is not pregnant is four months and ten days, based on the saying of Allah Almighty (which means): “And those of you who die and leave wives behind, they shall wait concerning themselves for four months and ten days” [al-Baqarah/234]. If she is pregnant, her ʿiddah ends with the delivery of her child. The ʿiddah is calculated by lunar months and begins from the date of death.
If her ʿiddah ends before she learns of her husband’s death, or of his divorcing her, she does not observe the ʿiddah upon learning of it, because her ʿiddah has already ended.
It is stated in al-Bayān fī Madhhab al-Imām al-Shāfiʿī (Vol.11/p.41), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “If a man divorces his wife, or dies while he is absent from her, her ʿiddah is from the time of the divorce or from the time of death. If she does not know of the divorce or the death until her ʿiddah period has ended, then her ʿiddah has ended. If she learns of it before the end of the ʿiddah period, she completes her ʿiddah counting from the time of the divorce or death.”
As for a woman who abandoned mourning throughout the ʿiddah while knowing that it is forbidden, she is sinful, although her ʿiddah has nonetheless ended. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the virtue of Laylat al-Qadr?

It is enough to know its great status that Allah revealed an entire surah about it—Surah Al-Qadr. Moreover, the Quran was first revealed on this night.
Allah says {what means}:
"We have indeed revealed this (Message) in the Night of Power: And what will explain to thee what the night of power is? The Night of Power is better than a thousand months. Therein come down the angels and the Spirit by Allah's permission, on every errand: Peace!... This until the rise of morn!" [Al-Qadr/1-5]
The Prophet ﷺ taught us to observe I‘tikaf in the last ten nights of Ramadan, seeking Laylat al-Qadr. Whoever worships Allah and revives this night will receive the reward of worshiping for a thousand months—excluding Laylat al-Qadr itself.

Does using a gargling medicine break the fast?

If the medicine reaches the body cavity (jauf), the fast is invalidated. However, if it does not enter the body cavity, the fast remains valid.
Therefore, it is advisable to avoid using it during the day in Ramadan.

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