Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(251)"Wakalah(Authorization) for Buying a Vehicle from an Organization that Provides Funding is Legally Sound"

Date Added : 19-02-2018

Resolution No.(251) (2/2018) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

"Wakalah(Authorization) for Buying a Vehicle from an Organization that Provides Funding is Legally Sound"

Date: 11/Jumada Al-Awwal/1439 AH, corresponding to 28/1/2018.

 

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

During its 2nd session held on the above date, the Board reviewed a question sent by one of the citizens in which he stated: I have bought a training vehicle through direct funding from the Development and Employment Fund (DEF). Actually, law stipulates that this vehicle must be registered in the name of a driving school owner. Unfortunately, shortly after the registration, the owner of that school passed away while there were payments to be covered. As is customary, once the owner passes away, the (DEF) exempts him/her from the remaining payments. The problem is that I`m the one who has been covering the payments, not the owner of the driving school although the vehicle is registered in his name. Do the remaining payments get dropped? Who is the beneficiary of this loan? Do the remaining payments belong to the deceased i.e. do I have to pay them to his heirs, or what?

After deliberating, the Board arrived at the following:

The framing of this issue differentiates between three cases:

Case 1 : Using Wakalah(Authorization)to buy real estate. This is when the owner of the driving school doesn`t buy the training vehicle for himself; rather, the true buyer had authorized him to do so. The Sharia maxim, in this regard, states that the authorized must act in the best interest of the authorizer. This is reflected in the following statement by Al-Subkhi: "Every authorized must act in the best interest of his/her authorizer." {Al-Ashbah Wa An-Nada`r}. In this case, the authorized-owner of the driving school-isn`t obliged to register the car in the name of the authorizer, nor to inform the party funding that transaction (Vehicle) that he`s just an authorized person, and not the true owner. Therefore, that Wakalah is legally sound. It was stated: "In a sales contract, it is not conditioned that the commodity must be registered in the name of the authorizer……and ownership of that commodity remains that of the authorized." [Durar al-Hukkam Shareh Majalat Al-Ahkam].

On this basis, if the seller-DEF-decided to reduce the price of the commodity (Vehicle), then that should be in the best interest of the authorizer as well. Therefore, if the (DEF) exempted the owner of the driving school from covering the rest of the payments, then the authorizer gets exempted and the latter isn`t obliged to pay the rest of the vehicle`s price to the heirs of the former. 

Case 2: A sales contract between the owner of the driving school (Seller) and the vehicle driver (Buyer). The agreement reached by the owner of the driving school with the (DEF) is a buy contract to his benefit, and not a power of attorney.

Case 3: The contract is a mere financial loan with usurious interest,  and not a Murabaha contract.

The ruling of Sharia on cases 2 & 3 differs from that on case 1.In these two cases (2&3), the owner of the vehicle must pay the remaining part of the vehicle`s price to the heirs of the owner of the driving school.

However, the Board has concluded from the above question that it is a Wakalah (Case 1). Therefore, the true owner of the vehicle (Authorizer) is exempted from paying any amount to the heirs of the driving school owner. And Allah Knows Best.

 

 

Chairman of Iftaa` Board,

Grand Mufti of Jordan,

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh

Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh, Member

Prof. Abdulnaser Abulbasal,  Member

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat, Member

Dr. Mohammad Khair Al-Esa, Member

Dr. Majid Darawsheh, Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Al-Hijjawi, Member

Judge Khalid Woraikat, Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Zou`bi/ Member

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible to offer an Udhiyah on behalf of the deceased?

In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Offering an Udhiyah (sacrificial animal) on behalf of a deceased person is permissible. This is the official position of the Hanbali school (as stated in Kashshaf al-Qina’ by al-Bahuti,Vol.6/P.428) and was also upheld by the prominent Shafi'i scholar Al-’Abbadi (mentioned in Bidayat al-Muhtaj by Ibn Qadi Shuhbah,Vol. 4/P.358). It has likewise been narrated as a valid view among some Maliki and Hanafi scholars.
 
In fact, Imam Abu Dawud dedicated an entire chapter in his Sunan collection entitled, "Chapter on Sacrificing on Behalf of the Deceased." In it, he recorded a narration from Hanash, who said: "I saw 'Ali sacrificing two rams, so I asked him, 'What is this?' He replied, 'The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded me to offer a sacrifice on his behalf, so I am sacrificing on his behalf.'"
 
Imam Abu Dawud also narrated from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "O Allah, this is from You, for You, and on behalf of Muhammad and his Ummah (community). In the Name of Allah, and Allah is the Greatest," and he then slaughtered the animal.
 
The textual evidence here lies in the fact that our Master, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), offered a sacrifice on behalf of his entire community—and it is well-established that his community includes those who have already passed away.
 
Furthermore, there is an abundance of sacred texts demonstrating that the rewards of righteous deeds reach the deceased. For instance, it is permissible to fast on behalf of a deceased person who passed away with missed obligatory fasts, and it is equally permissible to perform Hajj on their behalf, both of which are firmly established in authentic Hadiths. Therefore, if the reward of fasting (which is a purely physical act of worship) and Hajj (which is a joint physical and financial act of worship) can reach the deceased, then the reward of an Udhiyah reaches them with greater reason (by way of A Fortiori argument). This is because it is a purely financial act of worship, falling under the general category of charity (Sadaqah).
 
Additionally, scholars have reached a consensus (Ijma') that the rewards of charity reach the deceased, and since the Udhiyah is inherently an act of charity, it falls under the same ruling. Consequently, based on all the aforementioned evidence, we hold the view that offering a sacrifice on behalf of the deceased is entirely permissible. And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.

A group of about thirty young men will go to a farm on Friday. Is it permissible for one of us to deliver the sermon (*khuṭbah*) and lead us in the Friday prayer, or is it necessary to go to the nearest mosque?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The Friday prayer (Jumuʿah) is not obligatory upon a traveler, whether his journey is long or short, if he leaves his place of residence before the time of Fajr begins, according to the Shāfiʿī school. If, however, he sets out on his journey after the Fajr adhān, then he is obliged to perform the Friday prayer, whether in his own town or in any town where the Friday prayer is held.
It is stated in Bushrā al-Karīm (Vol.1/p.383), one of the books of the Shāfiʿī school: “[The Friday prayer] is not obligatory upon a traveler on a permissible journey, whether long or short, if he departs from his place of residence before dawn.” End quote.
Accordingly, if you set out on your journey after Fajr, you are obliged to perform the Friday prayer in the mosque. The same applies if you set out after that, since you would not have fulfilled the conditions for the validity of the Friday prayer, among them: that it be attended by forty men who are free, adult (bāligh), sane, and settled residents of the place where Friday is held. It must be held within a cluster of connected buildings, whether a city, a village, or a district (liwāʾ), for what counts is the gathering of the buildings. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on performing the Duha (forenoon) prayer before its time has begun, because I go to school early in the morning?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The Duha (forenoon) prayer is not valid if performed before its time has begun. Its time starts when the sun has risen to a noticeable height, that is, approximately fifteen minutes after sunrise, and it ends when the sun reaches its zenith (zawāl), shortly before the Dhuhr (noon) prayer. It is stated in Mughni al-Muhtaj (Vol.1/p.455): “Its time is from the rising of the sun [to a spear’s height] until the zenith.”
Accordingly, the Duha prayer is not valid if offered before the sun has risen, and its time remains open until just before Dhuhr. It may be performed at any time at school, during the break between classes or during recess. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on a person who abandons prayer after reaching puberty—is he required to make them up?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Making up missed obligatory prayers is an Islamic duty just as performing them in their proper time is obligatory, and taking care of them takes precedence over performing voluntary prayers. This is established by the practice of our Supreme Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when the polytheists distracted him on the Day of the Trench from performing the Asr prayer, so he made it up afterward, as well as the Hadith: "Pay Allah what is due to Him, for Allah is most deserving of fulfillment." (Recorded by Al-Bukhari)
 
Furthermore, it is valid to make up missed prayers at any time.
 
Whoever has missed a number of prayers and does not know their exact count, it is obligatory upon them to sincerely repent and exert their utmost effort to estimate their number. If they are unable to determine the exact count, they should base it on what is most probable according to their best judgment. They should then make them up gradually; if one performs one missed prayer alongside every current obligatory prayer, the matter becomes easy and manageable, and with the passage of time, one will complete what is owed, Allah willing. And Allah Almighty knows best.