Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (169): "The Heirs aren`t Entitled to the Inheritance, Save after Paying off the Deceased`s Debts"

Date Added : 25-10-2015

Resolution No. (169), By The Board of Iftaa', Researches and Islamic Studies:

"Resolution No. (169) "The Heirs aren`t Entitled to any portion of Inheritance, Save after Paying off the Deceased`s Debts"

Date: (25/9/1432AH), corresponding to (25/8/ 2011AD)

 

Praise be to Allah, peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and upon His Family and companions.

During the above given date, the Board reviewed  the following question:

My brother (May Allah have mercy on his soul) was killed in line of duty. He has been indebted with almost forty thousand dinars as installments of a flat that he purchased through the Jordan Islamic Bank - (300JDs) per month. (82885JDs) are due to his heirs and this amount was given to them in cheques with different payments. However, they have refused to pay off his debts. What is the Sharia ruling on this and can they take their shares from the estate before paying off the deceased`s debts?

After thorough study and deliberation ,the Board  decided the following :

The heirs aren`t entitled to take anything from the deceased`s estate, save after paying off his debts because Allah Says in the verses on inheritance (What means): “After any bequest they may bequeath, or any debt.” {An`Nisa`/12}. And Abdullah bin Amr bin Al-Aaas (May Allah Be pleased with them) reported that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “A martyr is exempt of all sins except debt.” {Muslim, 4991}.

Accordingly, the heirs are not entitled to anything from the property of the deceased  except after paying off his debts. However, if they had taken their shares from the inheritance  and later on found out that he was indebted, then each of them - young or old - must pay the debt percentage due on their share. Any heir who abstains from doing so is considered sinful according to Islamic Sharia and is to be called to account for denying  the right of the deceased regarding the settlement of the latter`s debt before Allah.

Therefore, if all of the heirs  pay off  the debt  from  their shares ,the flat becomes theirs – each according to his/her share – and the rest of the inheritance is divided amongst them according to Sharia.

The Board is of the view that  the heirs should treat the children of the martyred mercifully and compassionately, and not to leave them homeless because Allah Says (What means): “And let them fear those who, if they leave behind them weak offspring would be afraid for them; let them fear God and speak pertinent words. “ {An-Nisa`/9}. And Allah Knows Best.

 

 

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board 

The General Mufti of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan :His Eminence , Abd Al-Kareem Al-Khasawneh

Vice Head of Iftaa` Board:  His Eminence Dr. Ahmad Hilayel

Dr.Yahia Al-Botosh/member

His Eminence :Sheikh Sa`id Al-Hijawi/member

Dr. Mohammad Khair Al-Essa/member

His Excellency : Judge Sari Attieh/member

.Dr.Abdulrahman Ibdaah/member

Dr.Mohammad Oglah Al-Ibrahim/member

Dr.Abdulnasir Abulbasal/member

Dr.Mohammad Al-Zo`bi/member

Dr.Mohammad Al-Gharaibeh/member

Executive Secretary of Iftaa`Board:Sheikh Mohammad Al-Hinaiti

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it obligatory to make up all missed prayers?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Making up missed prayers (qaḍāʾ) is a sharʿī obligation, established by the practice of the Prophet ﷺ himself — when the disbelievers preoccupied him on the Day of the Trench and he missed the ʿAṣr prayer, he made it up afterward. This is further affirmed by the ḥadīth: "Fulfil what you owe to Allah, for Allah is most deserving of being fulfilled." (Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
Accordingly, a person who has missed prayers should set aside his voluntary and Sunnah prayers and replace them with make-up prayers in their stead. There is no objection to making up one missed prayer alongside each obligatory prayer that is performed — praying the equivalent missed prayer together with each current obligatory prayer as a practical and manageable way of gradually clearing one's debt of missed prayers. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

When is supplication (du‘a) more likely to be accepted: before or after breaking the fast in Ramadan?

Du‘a is accepted at all times, and this is part of Allah’s mercy and generosity toward His servants.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "No Muslim makes a supplication that does not involve sin or severing family ties except that Allah grants them one of three things: either He grants their supplication immediately, or He stores it for them in the Hereafter, or He averts from them an equivalent harm." [Narrated by Ahmad]
However, in Ramadan, du‘a is especially likely to be accepted shortly before breaking the fast.
The Prophet ﷺ said: "Three supplications are never rejected: the supplication of a fasting person until they break their fast, the supplication of a just leader, and the supplication of an oppressed person. Allah raises it above the clouds, opens the gates of heaven for it, and says: ‘By My might, I will surely grant you victory, even if after a while.’" [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi]

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.

I vowed to give a specific charity if a certain matter came to pass — what is the ruling on giving that charity before the matter is realised?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Fulfilling a vow (nadhr) is obligatory, in accordance with the word of Allah the Almighty: "And let them fulfil their vows." [Al-Ḥajj/ 29] And the saying of our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him." (Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
The Shāfiʿī scholars distinguished between a financial vow (nadhr mālī) and a bodily vow (nadhr badanī). They permitted the fulfilment of a financial vow to be brought forward — before the stipulated condition is met — but did not permit the same for a bodily vow, which may only be fulfilled after the condition has actually been realised.
Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "It is permissible to bring forward the fulfilment of a financial vow before the condition stipulated in it is met — such as saying: 'If I am healed, I vow to free a slave' or 'to give such-and-such in charity' — just as it is permissible to pay zakāh in advance. This is unlike a bodily vow, such as fasting." [Asnā al-Maṭālib, vol. 4/P.246]
Imām al-Bājūrī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Like expiation other than fasting, a financial vow — such as saying: 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave for the sake of Allah,' or 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave on the Friday following the recovery' — it is permissible to bring it forward before the recovery in the first case, and before the Friday following the recovery in the second case." [Ḥāshiyat al-Bājūrī ʿalā Sharḥ Ibn Qāsim, Vol.2/P.596] And Allah the Almighty knows best.