Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(193): "Ruling on Using the Zakah Money for the Treatment of the Poor at Al-Maqasid Alkhairiah Hospital"

Date Added : 22-11-2015

Resolution No.(193)(1/2014) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Using the Zakah Money for the Treatment of the Poor at Al-Maqasid Alkhairiah Hospital"

Date: 7/Rabee` Al-Awwal/1435 AH, corresponding to 9/1/2014 AD.

 

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds; and may His peace and blessings be upon Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

In its first session held on the above given date, the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies reviewed the letter of His Excellency-The Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, which reads as follows: Your Grace  knows that the Zakah Committee of Hai Nazal and Ad-dra` Al-Gharbi Area (East of Amman) functions under the umbrella of the Zakah Fund, and it has established a big charity-oriented project, which is “Al-Maqasid Al-Khairiah Hospital.“ It consists of seven floors built on a ten-thousand cubic meter lot of land, it takes a hundred and eleven beds, its cost  exceeds four million JDs, it has modern medical equipments, and a qualified staff have been hired to make it fully operational. The hospital offers its services to the public at minimum cost. However, the same service is provided to the poor after conducting field studies supervised by the Zakah Fund Committee which, in its turn, determines the exemptions and discounts to be offered to members of that class.

The Administrative Board of the Zakah Fund  has approved to give three thousand JDs to this hospital,  provided that the money is used to cover the treatment of the poor patients specified by the Fund, and that the whole matter be referred to the Iftaa` Board to clarify the Sharia ruling concerning it.

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

Treating poor patients isn’t only a recommended act of charity but also a responsibility that must be shouldered by organizations and communities because failing to do so negates the principles of Islamic Sharia and humanity. The Prophet (PBUH) said in this regard: “The believers in their mutual kindness, compassion and sympathy are just like one body. When one of the limbs suffers, the whole body responds to it with wakefulness and fever". {Bukhari&Muslim}.

Since poverty and need are among the key channels of Zakah disbursement, as prescribed in the Holy Quran and according to the consensus of the Muslim scholars, the Board views that there is no harm in dedicating a sum of the Zakah money to cover the treatment expenses of the poor, or the needy so long as honesty in spending and justice in distribution are observed. In this case, the administration of the Zakah Fund functions as a proxy in transferring the Zakah into the possession of the poor; therefore, there is no harm if the Zakah takes the form of treatment since the Shafi`e School of Jurisprudence  and other scholars allowed the Zakah proxy: “to buy a medication to the poor” instead of giving him/her the money {Moghni Al-Mohtajj, vol.4/pp.186}. This way, the objective of Sharia is met, and the needs of the poor are attended to. This is because treatment is one of the most essential needs that should be met sufficiently. 

We advise the givers of Zakah to support this hospital, and we advise those in charge of it to Fear Allah and observe kindness as far as management and service are concerned, and to seek the reward from Allah Alone. And Allah Knows Best.

 

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board: The Mufti General of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

 His Grace Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khassawwneh

Vice-Chairmanof the Iftaa` Board: Prof. Ahmad Hilayel

Prof. Hayel Abdulhafeez/ Member

Prof. Abdulnasser Abu Al-Bassal

His Eminence Sheikh Sa`eed Hijjawi/ Member

Dr. Yahia Al-Bottoosh/Member

Prof. Mohammad Al-Qudah/Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh/Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Z`oubee/Member

Dr. Wassif Al-Bakhri/Member

 

 

 

Decision Number [ Previous | Next ]


Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on forgiving a tenant next month's rent, with the intention of counting it toward zakāh al-māl?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It does not fulfill the obligation to count the rent owed on a house, or a portion of it, in lieu of zakāh. Rather, it is necessary to first transfer ownership of the zakāh amount to the poor person directly; only afterward may he be asked to pay the rent [from that money].
It is stated in ‘Umdat as-Sālik (p. 112): "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]."
We would also remind [the reader] of the ḥadīth of the Prophet ﷺ: "The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim: he does not wrong him, nor does he abandon him [to harm]. Whoever attends to the needs of his brother, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will attend to his needs. Whoever relieves a Muslim of a hardship, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, will relieve him of one of the hardships of the Day of Resurrection. And whoever conceals [the faults of] a Muslim, Allah will conceal him on the Day of Resurrection." (Agreed upon). And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling on reciting aloud (*jahr*) in a silent (*sirriyyah*) prayer?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
Reciting aloud (jahr) in the Fajr prayer, in the first two rakʿahs of Maghrib and ʿIshāʾ, and reciting silently (isrār) in the Dhuhr and ʿAṣr prayers is a sunnah. If the worshipper recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is valid, although it is better to follow the sunnah, in imitation of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Abū Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: “In every prayer there is recitation. What the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) let us hear, we let you hear, and what he concealed from us, we conceal from you. If you add nothing to Umm al-Qurʾān (al-Fātiḥah), it suffices, and if you add to it, it is better.” Narrated by al-Bukhārī.
Shaykh al-Islām Imam al-Nawawī (may Allah have mercy on him) said in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.3/389): “The sunnah is to recite aloud in the two rakʿahs of Ṣubḥ (Fajr), Maghrib, and ʿIshāʾ, and in the Friday prayer, and to recite silently in Dhuhr, ʿAṣr, the third rakʿah of Maghrib, and the third and fourth of ʿIshāʾ. All of this is by the consensus of the Muslims, together with the mutually reinforcing authentic ḥadīths on the matter. This is the ruling for the imam. As for the individual worshipper (munfarid), it is sunnah for him to recite aloud according to us and according to the majority… If he recites aloud where silence is prescribed, or the reverse, his prayer is not invalidated, nor is there a prostration of forgetfulness (sujūd al-sahw) for it, but he has committed something disliked (makrūh).” And Allah Almighty knows best.

Is Zakah (obligatory charity) due on land intended for selling?

Yes, lands intended for trade are valued, and Zakah is paid according to their estimated value after a lunar year had lapsed, but if the owner didn`t pay the due Zakah, then he should do so after selling them.

What are the Sharia consequences when the sacrificial time for the uḍḥiyyah comes to an end?

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
If the sun sets on the final day of Tashriq (the 13th of Dhu al-Hijjah) and the Udhiyah (sacrificial animal) has not yet been slaughtered, its designated time has expired. Should a person slaughter it after this point, it will not be counted as an Udhiyah.
 
However, if the sacrifice was a vowed one (Mandhurah), they are strictly obligated to slaughter it as a makeup act (Qada’), and its meat must be distributed entirely according to the rules governing vowed sacrifices.
 
It is stated in Bushra al-Karim (p. 702): "If one slaughters after sunset on the final day [of Tashriq]... it does not count as an Udhiyah, unless it was a vowed sacrifice, in which case it is fulfilled as a makeup act (Qada’)." And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.