Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (259): "The Amount of Zakat-ul-Fitr for the Year 1439"

Date Added : 24-05-2018

Resolution No. (259)(12/2018) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

"The Amount of Zakat-ul-Fitr for the Year 1439"

Date: 8/Ramadan/1439 AH, corresponding to 24/5/2018 AD.

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.

On the above date, the Board reviewed the amount of Zakat-ul-Fitrfor the year (1439 AH), corresponding to (24/5/2018), and after deliberations it decided the following:

Zakat-ul-Fitr is a religious obligation and a manifestation of social solidarity which characterizesour tolerant Sharia; particularly in the blessed month of Ramadan; the month of good deeds and kindness. Therefore, it is an obligation on every Muslim who owns extra provisions beyond his need as well as the need of everyone in his family on the day and night of Ed-ul-Fitr. In other words, one father should pay for himself and for whom he supports, even for his baby who is born before the sunset of the last day of Ramadan as well as his poor parents whom he supports.

Ibn `Umar narrated: "Allah's Messenger (PBUH) made it incumbent on all the slave or free Muslims, male or female, to pay one Sa' of dates or barley as Zakat-ul-Fitr." {Related by Bukhari}.

Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri (RAA) narrated: “We used to offer it (Zakat-ul-fitr) during the lifetime of the Prophet as one sa’ of food or one sa' of dates, or one sa' of barley or one sa' of raisins’’ {Agreed upon}.

Therefore, the amount of Zakat-ul-Fitr is one Sa` of food. {Sa` equals 2.5 Kgs.}. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the common food is wheat. Therefore, Zakat-ul-Fitr is (2.5 Kgs.) of wheat on every person. It is also permissible to give one Sa` of rice since it is common food. Moreover, it is permissible to give thevalue of this amount in cash.

The Board estimates the value of the Sa` from the common food in Jordan as (1800 F.), and whoever wishes to pay more shall have a greater reward from Allah, The Almighty.

The preferred time for giving Zakat-ul-Fitr is between the sunset of the last day of Ramadan and the E`ed prayer. It is also permissible to give it from the beginning of Ramadan.

Nowadays, it is the duty of every Muslimto observe this ritual (Zakat-ul-Fitr) forit purifies the soul from any indecent act. Therefore, it must be given on behalf of the child, who isn`t obliged to fast, as well as the sick who is unable to fast. Ibn ’Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) narrated: "The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) enjoined Zakat-ul-fitr on the one who fasts (i.e. fasted during the month of Ramadan) to purify him from any indecent act or speech and for the purpose of providing food for the needy “ {Abu Dawood}. Giving it to the poor makes them self-sufficient on the day of E`ed. Therefore, a Muslim should give it willingly and kindly.

The Board estimates the ransom (Saum Fidyah) for breaking fastby those unable to fast due to old age or sickness (people exempted from fasting), as (1 JD at the minimum) for each missed day, and whoever wishes to give more shall receive a greater reward from Allah, The Almighty.

We pray that Allah, The Almighty, Accepts our acts of devotion and Erases our sins. And Allah Knows Best.

The Iftaa` Board (2017)

Chairman: Dr Mohammad Al-Khalayleh, Grand Mufti of Jordan

Sheikh Abdulkareem Khasawneh/ Member

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat/Member

Prof.Abdulnaser Abulbasal/Member

Dr.Moh.Khair Al-Esa/ Member

Dr. Majid Drawsheh/Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Hijawi/Member           

Judge Khalid Woraikat/Member

Dr. Mohammad al-Zou`bi/Member   

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on making up the regular *rawātib* (sunnah) prayers together with a missed obligatory prayer?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is obligatory to make up (qaḍāʾ) a missed obligatory prayer (farḍ). As for the timed supererogatory prayers (al-sunan al-muʾaqqatah) or the regular rawātib prayers, it is recommended (mandūb) to make them up, even if a long time has passed. Ibn Ḥajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Fatāwā: "It is established in our school that it is sunnah to make up the timed voluntary prayers, by night or by day, even if congregation is not prescribed for them, whether much time has passed or little."
Accordingly, it is recommended to make up the sunan together with the obligatory prayer. And Allah Almighty knows best.
________________________________________
Note on terminology: Al-nawāfil al-muʾaqqatah (timed voluntary prayers) refers to supererogatory prayers tied to a specific time or cause, such as the rawātib (regular prayers before and after the obligatory ones), Duha, and the like. The ruling given here reflects the Shāfiʿī position.

My father has debts and asked me to repay them years ago, and I promised him I would do so upon his death — is it permissible for me to go back on my promise given that I am unable to repay them, especially since he refuses to contribute to repayment on the grounds that the debt has become my responsibility by virtue of my promise?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The established principle is that a father's debt is to be repaid from his own wealth, if he possesses sufficient means. As for the promise made by the son to repay it on his father's behalf, fulfilling such a promise is strongly recommended, and breaking it is considerably disliked. Shaykh al-Islām Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Fulfilling a promise is emphatically recommended, and breaking it is severely disliked. The evidences for this from the Qurʾān and the Sunnah are well known." [Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn,Vol. 2/P.278] Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, further states: "The reason fulfilling a promise is not obligatory and breaking it is not forbidden is that a promise is in the nature of a gift, and a gift does not become binding except upon receipt." [Asnā al-Maṭālib fī Sharḥ Rawḍ al-Ṭālib,Vol. 2/P.487]
Given that the son does not possess the financial means to fulfil his promise to his father, breaking this promise falls beyond his capacity — and Allah does not burden a soul beyond what it can bear. Since the father himself possesses sufficient wealth to settle his own debt, repayment must be made from his own funds. Should he pass away before doing so, the debt is to be settled from his estate. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What type of illness that permits breaking the fast in Ramadan?

It is an illness that, if one fasts, there is a fear it may lead to their death or cause unbearable hardship.

Is "Bismillāhir-Raḥmānir-Raḥīm" a verse (āyah) of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The basmalah ("Bismillāhir-Raḥmānir-Raḥīm") is, without question, a verse (āyah) of the Noble Qur'an, and according to the Shāfi‘ī school, it constitutes a verse of Sūrat al-Fātiḥah itself. Al-Fātiḥah is a pillar of the prayer, and it consists of seven verses, of which the basmalah is one. The prayer is not valid without reciting it, nor if any of the Fātiḥah's verses, letters, or shaddahs (consonant doublings) are omitted or altered.
It is stated in Bushrā al-Karīm (Vol.1/p.202), from the books of the Shāfi‘ī school: "The basmalah is a complete verse of it [i.e., of al-Fātiḥah] in practice — and it suffices, for this to be established, that there be strong probability (ẓann), especially given that this has come very close to certainty (yaqīn), due to the consensus (ijmā‘) of the Companions on its inclusion in the muṣ-ḥaf [the written text of the Qur'an] in its script, despite their extreme diligence in excluding from it anything that did not genuinely belong to it — to the point that they even [carefully regulated] its diacritical dots and vowel markings." And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.