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Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (319): "Ruling on Combining Wakalah for a Fee and a Loan in one Contract"

Date Added : 11-01-2023

 

Resolution No. (319), By The Board of Iftaa', Researches and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Combining Wakalah for a Fee and a Loan in one Contract"

Date: (21 Jumada al-Ula, 1444 AH), corresponding to (15/12/2022 AD).

 

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.

In its fifteenth meeting held on the above date, the Board of Iftaa` reviewed the referendum No.(190959) sent to the electronic website of the Iftaa` Department. It stated what follows: "A person authorized another to buy him a car that is worth 10,000 JDs in return for getting paid 100 JDs. However, the authorized will be paid a total of 10100 JDs after one year. In this case, there are two contracts in one. A contract of Wakalah (Agency agreement) for a fee and a loan contract. The question that arises here is that does the loan bring a benefit since the Wakalah fee (Ju`l) is considered a benefit resulting from the loan tied to it?

After deliberations. The Board arrived at the following decision:

This transaction is made up of two contracts: Wakalah for a fee and a loan contract. Simply, the principal/client authorizes the agent to buy him a car from his {Agent} own money in return for receiving a fee and functioning as an agent. 

The general rule is that it isn`t allowed for an agent to purchase, from his own money, a commodity for the principal/client since, according to the Shafi school of thought, he (Agent) is purchasing that commodity for himself. An-Nawawi said: "It isn`t allowed for an agent to buy, from his own money, a commodity for the principal/client and if he (Agent) does then he is buying that commodity for himself." {Rawdat At-Talibeen, Vol.4: 326}.

If the agent used his own money or borrowed money to buy a commodity for the principal/client, then it isn`t permissible to stipulate a contract of leasing (Ijarah) in a sale contract (Bay`). This is since the Messenger of Allah said: "The proviso of a loan combined with a sale is not allowable…." {Transmitted by Tirmithi}. This form of transaction involves the confusedness of usury. I.e. the fee collected by the agent lending the money to the principal/client is an excuse for the increase on the original amount of the loan. The Shafie scholar Al-Mawardi said: "In this sense, it isn`t permissible to purchase and lend. This is like when a person says to another: "I will buy this slave of yours for a hundred provided that you lend me that sum. Both the condition and the loan are invalid based on what we have mentioned earlier. In addition, Ijarah isn`t permissible with the condition of loaning." {Al-Hawi Al-Kabeer, Vol.5: pp.352}. It is stated in the Maliki book {Mawahib Al-Jaleel Fi Mokhtasar Khaleel, Vol.4/pp.314}: "The proviso of a loan combined with a sale is not allowable.."

In conclusion, it isn`t allowable to combine Wakalah for a fee and a loan in one contract. The solution out of this is that the agent buys the car from his own money, then sells it to the principal/client in the form of Murabah contract of sale. And Allah The Almighty Knows Best.

 

Grand Mufti of Jordan, Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh/ Member

Prof. Mahmoud Al-Sartawi/ Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Hijjawi/ Member

Prof. Amjad Rasheed/ Member

Prof. Adam Nooh Al-Qhodah/ Member

Dr. Jameel Khatatbeh/ Member

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat/ Member

Dr. Mohammad Younes al-Zou`bi/ Member

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on performing prayer on the upper floors of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Facing the actual structure of the Ka‘bah (‘ayn al-Ka‘bah) is one of the conditions for the validity of the prayer. The scholars have clarified what is meant by "the actual structure of the Ka‘bah."
Imam ash-Sharwānī (raḥimahullāh) said: "What is meant by its ‘ayn (actual structure) is its physical body, or the airspace directly aligned with it — if the person praying is not inside it. But if he is inside it, then the airspace alone does not suffice; rather, the actual physical structure must be faced, such that even if he faces a projecting part of it measuring roughly two-thirds of a dhirā‘ (cubit) or more, this would be sufficient." [Ḥāshiyat ash-Sharwānī ‘alā Tuḥfat al-Muḥtāj, Vol.1/P.484]
Sheikh al-Qulyūbī (raḥimahullāh) said: "Unlike one who prays outside it — i.e., outside the Ka‘bah — for him the airspace (directly above it) suffices, even if he is higher than it, or even if he is at the location where it (hypothetically) has been demolished." [Ḥāshiyat al-Qulyūbī ‘alā Sharḥ al-Minhāj,  Vol.1/P.154]
Accordingly, the prayer is valid on the upper floors of al-Masjid al-Ḥarām, even though these floors are higher than the roof of the Ka‘bah itself. 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.

Does Laylat al-Qadr move between the nights of Ramadan?

Laylat al-Qadr is definitely in Ramadan, and it is most likely in the last ten nights, especially on the odd-numbered nights.
For this reason, the Prophet ﷺ commanded observing worship in the last ten nights, and he himself used to dedicate those nights to worship. Many people put special effort into the 27th night of Ramadan, and they are rewarded in any case, whether they actually coincide with Laylat al-Qadr or not, because worshiping on any night of Ramadan carries great rewards.
 

What are the legal and religious consequences for a charitable organization in the event that a sacrificial animal is damaged or spoiled after slaughter?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
Charitable organizations entrusted with slaughtering sacrificial animals (uḍḥiyyah) and distributing their meat on behalf of their owners are obligated to safeguard the meat from spoilage, damage, theft, and any other harm. This is because such organizations act as agents (wukalā') on behalf of those offering the sacrifice, and an agent holds what is entrusted to them in trust (amānah) — whether they receive a wage for their work or act on a voluntary basis.
If the sacrificial animal is damaged after slaughter during the processes of packaging, transportation, or storage due to negligence or oversight — whether on the part of the organization's own staff overseeing the operation, or on the part of third parties contracted by the organization such as transport or shipping companies — then liability falls upon the negligent party, who is required to compensate for the value of the sacrifice. It is not permissible to cover such compensation from the organization's other donor funds.
However, if the damage to the sacrificial animal occurs without any negligence in its preservation and storage on the part of any party involved in the transportation, shipping, or storage process, and is instead attributable to force majeure circumstances beyond their control, then no financial liability is borne by any party in such a case. And Allah Almighty knows best.

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