Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(1): "Sharia Ruling on Lease Premium“

Date Added : 25-01-2018

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

  "Sharia Ruling on Lease Premium"

 

Question: What is the ruling of Sharia on lease premium and the money paid against that, and is it permissible according to the rulings of Islamic Sharia?

Answer: All perfect praise is due 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.

 

Ijarah (hiring) is permissible in Islamic Sharia since the Prophet (PBUH) was sent to humanity while people were leasing and taking on lease, so he permitted that. It is well known that Ijarah is a contract whereby two parties agree upon a certain benefit in return for a compensation, that is money.

Ijarah is actually purchasing a benefit, and it is permissible to conclude an Ijarah contract upon lawful benefits, so the benefit of the leased estate is the right of the lessee, and so he enjoys the right of staying in the estate upon which the leasing contract has been concluded. Islamic Sharia has given a lessee the right of staying and residing in the leased estate, so none has the right to drive him/her out of it, and this right has a financial value according to Islamic Sharia as well as custom.

If a lessee was driven out of the estate without being paid the value of that right (lease premium), he/she may not be able to find a similar one without paying substantial amounts of money.

A lease premium is an integral part of the rent that has been agreed upon by both parties (lessor and lessee); therefore, it is permissible that the lessee pays it to the owner as a part of the rent i.e. the value of the benefit. The lessee is also permitted to sell his right in this benefit and take the lease premium from whoever wishes to purchase it for a price higher, or  lower  than that which he had paid to the owner in the first place.

On the other hand, Muslim jurists  permitted employing such a method on the estates pertaining to Islamic Awqaf (endowments) during the tenth, ninth, and eighth  centuries (H). They passed a legal ruling which  states that the Awqaf administrator has no authority to drive a lessee out of an estate so long as the latter is willing to pay the rent agreed upon in the contract. This way, Muslim jurists have given the lessee of an Awqaf estate the right to remain in it and permitted him to receive a lease premium in case he wished to vacate the estate. By analogy, it is permissible for a lessee, in ordinary types of estates, to demand a lease premium so long as the law grants him the right to stay in the estate even after the expiry of the contact. The law permitted this as a regulative measure  meant to prevent injustice, and after consulting people of sound opinion and expertise; it is parallel to putting price tags on commodities to prevent traders from rigging prices.

 

It is a purely commercial transaction that  involves buying and selling beyond suspicions of Riba (usury), or unlawfulness; therefore, contracting parties aren`t considered sinful so long as the contract has been concluded with their mutual consent. It is also impermissible for any party to revoke the contract except with the consent of the other party. And Allah Knows Best.

 

The Board of Iftaa'

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on X-ray imaging while fasting in Ramadan?

X-ray imaging itself does not break the fast. However, if a person ingests a contrast agent or medication to enhance the imaging process through an open passage to the body cavity (jauf)—such as the mouth or rectum—then their fast is invalidated.

What should a person who was favored from Allah with a newborn, but couldn`t afford an Aqeeqah, do?

Aqeeqah (the sheep slaughtered on the seventh day from the child`s birth) is a desirable Sunnah for the financially able since Allah, The Exalted, charges not a soul beyond its capacity. Therefore, if the father couldn`t afford the Aqeeqah before the end of his wife`s confinement, then it isn`t due on him, and if he was able to afford it later on, then it is permissible, but if he didn`t until the child reached puberty, the latter can offer the Aqeeqah himself.

Is it permissible to read from the Mus-haf during Tarawih prayer?

Yes, it is permissible to read from the Mus-haf during Tarawih prayer, provided that excessive movements that invalidate the prayer are avoided.
However, it is preferable for the imam to be a memorizer of the Quran and to recite from memory.

Is it acceptable to perform the Aqiqah for a male child by slaughtering and distributing the first sheep, and bringing the second one cooked from the restaurant?

 

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.

It is permissible to slaughter the first sheep with the intention of Aqiqah (the newborn's sacrificial offering) and distribute it entirely [uncooked], and to slaughter the second sheep and have it cooked at a restaurant to bring home for the household. However, it must be noted that it is obligatory to give some portion of the Aqiqah in charity to the poor, even if it is a small amount, though it is preferable to send the food cooked to them.

Buying a pre-cooked, ready-made sheep from a restaurant does not suffice as an Aqiqah. However, if an agreement is made with the restaurant to explicitly slaughter a sheep with the intention of Aqiqah for the newborn, and then cook it afterward, this is permissible.

In conclusion, slaughtering the sheep and distributing it with the intention of Aqiqah is permissible, and through it, the foundational prophetic tradition (Sunnah) is fulfilled. As for simply buying a cooked sheep from a restaurant that was not specifically slaughtered with the intention of Aqiqah, it will not count as such. Conversely, if the restaurant owner is commissioned (Wakala) to handle both the slaughtering and the cooking as an Aqiqah, it is valid—provided that a portion of it, even if small, is given in charity, which is estimated to be approximately half a kilogram of meatAnd Allah the Almighty knows best.