عربي
Home


Board of Ifta’, Islamic Studies and Research:



Iftaa' Department


          The Ifta’ Law number (60) of the year 2006, and the modifying Law number (4) of the year 2009 state that a Board is to be established in the Kingdom and called “Board of Iftaa’, Islamic Studies and Research,” and that the General Mufti (who is now Shaikh Abdel Kareem El-Khasawneh) is the Head of the Board. The following are members:

  1. One judge from the Religious (Sharee’ah) Appeal Court to be named by the Supreme Judge (presently: Judge Wasef Al-Bakry)
  2. One faculty member from a Sharee’ah College in one Government University in Jordan who is a specialist in Islamic Jurisprudence (presently: Dr. Muhammad Al-Qudhah)
  3. Mufti of the Jordanian Military Forces (presently: Dr. Yahya Al-Btoush).
  4. Mufti of the Capital Amman (presently: Dr. Muhammad Al-Zu’bi)
  5. One scholar from the Ministry of Awqaf  and and Islamic Affairs, who is a specialist in the sciences of Jurisprudence and to be named by the minister—presently, Dr. Muhammad Nouh Al-Qudha.
  6. Five scholars specialists in Sharee’h sciences, who are presently:
  • Dr. Ahmad Helayel, the Supreme Judge, Imam of the Royal Court
  • Sheikh Sa’eed Hajjawi
  • Professor Abdel Naser Abu El Basal
  • Dr. Muhammad Al-Khalayleh
  • Dr. Muhammad Khair ‘Eisa

All these are appointed by a decision of the cabinet based on the General Mufti’s nomination. It is a condition that each of them must be a well known scholar who has research and studies in Islamic sciences, and must have had a university degree in Islamic Studies since fifteen years as a minimum.

The Vice President

          The law states that the board elects from among its members a vice president. Presently Dr. Ahmad Helayel has been elected as Vice President.

Board Term

                        The board serves for four years that can be renewed.

            The board conceives the following tasks and rights

  1. Set the general policy of Iftaa’ in the Kingdom.
  2. Oversee general affairs that need Ijtihad, especially in matters that need research and study in jurisprudence doctrines, and issues referred to the department of Iftaa’ by any official party.
  3. Explain the religious stand on emerging issues of public affairs that need Ijtihad (to explain the religious stand on a matter), and on issues that need research and study in jurisprudence doctrines, in addition to issues referred to the department by any official party.
  4. Issue religious answers (fatawa) to questions referred to it.
  5. Revise any draft laws and regulations referred to the Board to determine the religious opinion.
  6. Review scholarly papers presented by Sharee’ah scholars recruited by the Board or by the General Mufti and in accordance with regulations issued for this purpose.
  7. Appoint Muftis in the Department and in governorates as nominated by the General Mufti
  8. The Iftaa’ Board assumes the authorities of the Cabinet in issues related to employees of the General Iftaa’ Department.

Terminating Membership

The membership of any member will terminate in the following cases:

  1. Death
  2. Resignation
  3. Absence from three successive meetings with no acceptable excuse.

Board Meetings and Decisions:

The Board meets once every month at least, and whenever needed, upon an invitation by its president—or the vice if absent. The meeting is legal if two thirds of the members attend with either the president or the vice president. The Board makes decisions by a majority vote and if votes are even, the president’s vote wins.

The Board Secretary:

The Mufti appoints one Mufti to serve as a secretary for the Board. Presently, the secretary is Dr. Jameel Abu Sarah.

 

 

Summarized Fatawaa

What is required of one who doubts the number of rakʿāt during prayer?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
If a person doubts the number of rakʿāt he has prayed, he should build upon the lesser number, as that is what he is certain of. He should then perform the prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd al-sahw) before the final salām at the end of the prayer. ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When any one of you is in doubt during his prayer and does not know whether he has prayed three rakʿāt or four, let him pray one more rakʿah and then perform two prostrations while seated before the salām. If the rakʿah he prayed was a fifth, these two prostrations will make it even; and if it was the fourth, then the two prostrations serve as a humiliation for the devil." (Reported by Abū Dāwūd.)
It is stated in al-Muqaddimah al-Ḥaḍramiyyah — one of the foundational texts of the Shāfiʿī school: "If one doubts whether he has prayed three rakʿāt or four, he is obliged to build upon the lesser number."
However, if such doubt recurs repeatedly and reaches the level of obsessive whispering (waswasah), he should not build upon the lesser number in that case — rather, he should build upon the greater number. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the age of the Aqiqa or the Udhiyah?

 
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The minimum age for a sacrificial animal (Udhiyah) and the birth sacrifice (Aqiqa) is as follows:
 
Camels: Five years old, entering their sixth year.
 
Cattle and Goats: Two years old, entering their third year.
 
Sheep: One year old, entering their second year; however, it is permissible for a sheep to be six months old provided it is large in size and plump.
 
And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on saying the basmalah at the beginning of wudu`?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Saying the basmalah (Bismillāh) at the beginning of wuḍūʾ is a sunnah. It is stated in al-Minhāj al-Qawīm Sharḥ al-Muqaddimah al-Ḥaḍramiyyah (p. 27): “Its sunnahs include the siwāk, then the tasmiyah (saying Bismillāh), joined with the intention (niyyah), at the start of washing the hands.” And Allah Almighty 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.

See More