Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(119): “Ruling on Trading with Cellular Phone Card“

Date Added : 02-11-2015

 

Resolution No.(119): “Ruling on Trading with Cellular Phone Cards“

Date: 1/3/1429 AH, corresponding to 9/3/2008 AD.

 

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

The board received the following question:

A trader was asked to provide cellular phone cards that equal (500) JDs, then sell them by installments over one year with 20% as a profit. He has the following questions:

1- Is trading with cellular phone cards illegal?

2- Is it permissible to specify a certain percentage of profit, in general?

Answer: All success is due to Allah

1- It is permissible to trade with cellular phone cards because it is a kind of sale against a benefit. This is supported by the fact that these cards have a certain expiry date, and become useless after that date. Moreover, possession of such cards is tantamount to possession of a benefit, which is using the web of the telecommunications company that issued them for a specific period. One who has possession of a benefit may make it in the possession of someone else in return for a compensation, even if that compensation was more than the one against which he had possessed that benefit in the first place. However, cellular phone cards differ from paper money so as for people to say that they may not be sold for more than their actual value.

 

2- It is permissible to specify a certain margin of profit, whether for cellular phone cards, or any other commodity, because doing does not contradict the rules of Islamic Sharia.

And Allah Knows Best.

 

Head of the Iftaa` Department, The Grand Mufti of Jordan, Dr. Nooh Al-Qodat

Vice Head of the Iftaa` Board, Dr. Ahmad Hilayel

Sheikh AbdulKareem Al-Khasawneh/ Member

                                               Sheikh Sa`eid Hijjawi/ Member

                                               Dr. Mohammad Khair Al-Essa/ Member

                                               Judge Sari Attieh/ Member

                                               Dr. Abdulrahamn Ibbdah/ Member

                                               Dr.Mohammad Oklah Al-Ibraheem/ Member

                                               Sheikh Na`eim Mujahid / Board Executive Secretary

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it required for a discerning child to make the intention at night if they wish to fast?

If a discerning child wishes to fast during Ramadan, they must make the intention at night because intention is one of the pillars of fasting, even though fasting is not obligatory for them.

What is the ruling on someone who possesses gold with the intention of saving/hoarding it, and owns nothing else — is he obligated to sell a portion of it in order to pay the zakāh due on it?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Zakāh becomes immediately obligatory on cash, and likewise on gold — that which is not designated for a woman's personal adornment— once both reach the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for zakah) and a full ḥawl (lunar year) has passed over them. It is not permissible to delay payment when it is genuinely possible to pay — meaning, when the wealth and the eligible recipients are both available. It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vol.2/p.129): "Zakāh is obligatory immediately once it becomes feasible to pay it, meaning when the wealth and the eligible recipients are both present."
The one paying zakāh must discharge the obligatory zakāh due on saved (hoarded) gold either from the gold itself, or from its equivalent monetary value, in the event that no other funds are available — since paying from the gold itself is the original default (al-aṣl). It becomes permissible to pay from other funds instead only because zakāh is built upon the principle of ease and leniency, as stated in Asnā al-Maṭālib (Vol.1/p.366): "When a full ḥawl has elapsed on wealth other than trade goods... zakāh attaches to the actual asset itself (al-‘ayn), and the poor effectively become partners in it — even, for example, [becoming partners] in camels through the value of a sheep [owed as zakāh on them]... Paying from other wealth is permitted only because zakāh is built upon the principle of ease and leniency."
Accordingly: the one paying zakāh must discharge it either from the actual saved gold itself, or by selling a portion of the gold equal to the amount of zakāh owed. He may also borrow money to pay the zakāh, or pay the zakāh in installments before the ḥawl is complete [as an advance payment]. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling on someone who possesses cash reaching the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for zakah), and then uses part of it to purchase gold before the ḥawl (lunar year) is complete — must he pay zakāh on all of it [combined], or only on the remaining cash, excluding the gold?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Gold acquired for hoarding and saving is subject to zakāh once it reaches the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for Zakah) — when combined with any cash held — and once a full ḥawl (lunar year) has elapsed over it. The starting point for calculating this ḥawl is the ḥawl of the paper currency [used to purchase it], which had already reached the niṣāb and was then used to purchase the gold.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vol.2/p.78): "As for someone who sells silver in exchange for gold, or vice versa, zakāh remains obligatory upon it, since he builds [the calculation of] its ḥawl upon [the ḥawl established at the time of] the original transaction [i.e., when the wealth was first acquired]."
This has already been explained in detail in Fatwa No. 2670 — please refer to it.
And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

What is the ruling on a person who insists on praying in a specific spot and becomes angry if someone else prays there?

ruling on a person who persists in praying in a specific spot and becomes angry if someone else occupies it

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Our Master the Prophet ﷺ forbade a man from habitually claiming a specific spot in the mosque as a camel claims its place (to sit); scholars consider this to be among the disliked matters (Makruhat). It is therefore obligatory to advise this individual that whoever arrives at a spot first has the most right to it. And Allah the Exalted knows best.