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 valid to share in the 'aqīqah by contributing a seventh share of a camel or cow?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
Yes, it is permissible. If a group of people jointly share in the slaughter of a camel or a cow on behalf of seven individuals, this is valid — regardless of whether all of them intend the 'aqīqah, or some intend the 'aqīqah, others the uḍḥiyyah, and others simply the purchase of meat. And Allah Almighty knows best.

Should a person feel pleased, or have a virtuous vision after offering Istikhara (guidance prayer) in order to do what he/she had offered it for?

The result of the Istikhaarah is not necessarily that a person sees something (in his dream), or feels pleased, but the most important result of the Istikhaarah is whether a person is enabled to do a given matter or not.

Is it permissible to agree with a butcher to purchase the meat of an animal after it has been slaughtered — for instance, by buying the meat of a sheep at a price determined by the weight of its meat following slaughter, at a fixed rate per kilogram? And what is the ruling if the animal is being purchased with the intention of it being an uḍḥiyyah (sacrificial offering)?

 
 
 
 
 

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is not permissible to sell livestock in the manner of pricing each kilogram of meat after slaughter at a fixed rate, because the meat within the animal prior to slaughter is unseen and unknown. This leads to jahālah (ignorance of the subject matter) and gharar (contractual uncertainty), both of which are among the invalidating factors in sales transactions.
However, it is permissible for the buyer to issue a promise to purchase the meat of the animal after slaughter at a specified price per kilogram, with the actual sale being concluded at the time of weighing the meat — at which point both the quantity of the goods and the total price become known. There is no Sharī'ah objection to this arrangement.
The jurists have stipulated that for a sale to be valid, both countervalues must be present and observable. Al-Khaṭīb al-Shirbīnī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states:
"It is valid to sell a heap of grain whose total measure is unknown to both contracting parties at a rate of one sā' per dirham. This sale is valid because the subject of sale is present and observable, and ignorance of the total price is not harmful since it is known in detail — and uncertainty is thereby lifted."— [Mughnī al-Muḥtāj, Vol.2/P.355]
As for the uḍḥiyyah, the 'aqīqah, and vowed blood sacrifices (al-dam al-mandhūr) — full ownership of the animal must be established prior to slaughter. It is not valid for such animals to be slaughtered while still in the ownership of the butcher. Rather, the animal must be purchased alive and then slaughtered with the intention of uḍḥiyyah or the like. And Allah Almighty knows best.

Is it obligatory for someone traveling by plane in the afternoon during Ramadan to fast?

Anyone who intends to travel after dawn must begin the day fasting and continue with the intention of completing their fast, as fasting was obligatory upon them before traveling.
However, if they experience unbearable hardship after starting their journey, they are permitted to break their fast due to that hardship, not merely because of travel. In such a case, they must make up for the missed fast later.