Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (263): "Ruling on Installing Solar Energy at the Charity Medical Center from the Treatment's Earnings"

Date Added : 05-09-2018

Resolution No. (263) by the Board of Iftaa', Research and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Installing Solar Energy at the Charity Medical Center from theTreatment's Earnings"

Date: ( 18/Thu Al-Hija/1439 AD) ,corresponding to (30/8/2018 AH)

On its eleventh session held on the above date, the Board reviewed the letter sent from his Excellency, the General Manager of the Zakah Fund, and it read as follow: 

As Your Grace knows, Wihdat Zakah Committee answers to the Zakah's Fund. Since this committee runs its own medical center, it desires to replace the electrical energy with solar energy against an overall cost of around (15682 JD). Moreover, this sum was taken from the medical center`s earnings (Not from the Zakah fund) and allocated for the aforementioned purpose. In addition, the medical center offers its services to all citizens at minimum costs and serves the poor through field workshops supervised by the Zakah committee. Could you inform us of the Sharia ruling as regards financing the aforementioned project from the medical center`s earnings.
After prolonged deliberations, the Board decided the following:
In principle, there is no harm in using the earnings of the medical center to finance the above project; especially since they are generated by the center, itself and this will save many future expenses and will, hopefully,be reflected on the quality of the offered services. However, this project has to be executed according to the regulations and instructions of the committees supervised by the Zakah Fund. And Allah Knows Best. 

Chairperson of Iftaa` Board,

Grand Mufti of Jordan,

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh

Sheikh Sa`eid Al-Hijjawi, Member       

Prof. Abdullah Al-Fawaaz/ Member

Dr. Muhammad Khair Al-Issa, Member

Dr. Majid Al-Darawsheh, Member

Prof. Adam Noah/ Member

Judge. Khaled Al-Wrikat

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat, Member

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible for an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or someone with a chronic illness to pay fidyah before Ramadan begins?

It is not permissible for an elderly person, a pregnant woman, or someone with a chronic illness to pay fidyah before Ramadan begins.
Additionally, it is not allowed to pay fidyah for more than one day in advance, because fidyah is a substitute for fasting, and fasting is not yet obligatory at that time.
However, it is permissible to pay fidyah for a single day in advance, by analogy with paying zakat up to one year in advance.

How to pay Zakah (obligatory charity) due on articles of merchandise?

Articles of merchandise are estimated by their whole sale market price at the end of each lunar year, and (2.5%) of their value is paid as Zakah whether it (value) went up, or down compared to actual purchasing price, and whether the increase (profit) was in the article itself such as an increase in the animal`s weight, or in the prices themselves. And Allah Knows Best.

What is the ruling on swearing an oath by the Prophet ﷺ, and does such an oath take effect according to Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, requiring expiation upon its breach?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Swearing an oath by a created being is disliked (makrūh) in our Shāfiʿī school. Shaykh al-Islām Imām al-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Swearing by a created being is disliked — such as swearing by the Prophet, the Kaʿbah, Jibrīl, the Companions, or the Prophet's family. Al-Shāfiʿī, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: 'I fear that swearing by other than Allah the Almighty may constitute an act of disobedience.' The scholars of the school explained this to mean: that is, something forbidden and sinful — indicating that he had some hesitation in the matter. Al-Imām stated: the established position of the school is that it is categorically not forbidden, but rather disliked. Furthermore, whoever swears by a created being, his oath does not take effect and no expiation (kaffārah) is required if he breaks it." [Rawḍat al-Ṭālibīn wa ʿUmdat al-Muftīn, Vol. 11/P.6]
According to the Ḥanbalī school, however, expiation becomes obligatory upon one who swears by our master the Prophet ﷺ and then breaks his oath. Imām al-Bahūtī al-Ḥanbalī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "No expiation is required for swearing by other than Allah the Almighty, even if the oath is broken — because expiation was made obligatory for swearing by Allah and His attributes, out of reverence for His names, and nothing else is equal to Him in this regard... except in the case of swearing by our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, for expiation becomes obligatory when one swears by him and then breaks the oath. This was explicitly stated in the narration of Abū Ṭālib, because he is one of the two conditions of the two testimonies of faith by which a disbeliever becomes a Muslim. Ibn ʿAqīl held the view that swearing by any of the other prophets, peace and blessings be upon them all, carries the same ruling." [Sharḥ Muntahā al-Irādāt, Vol. 3/P.441]. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

Who is required to give fidyah for fasting?

Fidyah—feeding one needy person for each missed fasting day—is required for:
1. Those who are permanently unable to fast, such as:
○ Elderly men and women who are too weak to fast.
○ People with chronic illnesses that have no hope of recovery.
2. Pregnant or breastfeeding women who break their fast out of fear for their child (fetus or infant).
3. A person who delays making up Ramadan fasts (qada) until the next Ramadan begins, without a valid excuse.
4. The estate of a deceased person who had missed obligatory fasts and had the ability to make them up but did not do so.