Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(271): "Ruling on Holding Shares in Companies whose Business is a Mixture of Lawful and Unlawful Transactions"

Date Added : 25-02-2020

Resolution No.(271)(2/2019), By The Board of Iftaa', Researches and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Holding Shares in Companies whose Business is a Mixture of Lawful and Unlawful Transactions"

Date: (25/ Jumādā al-Awwal/1440 AH), corresponding to (31/1/2019)

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and may His Peace and Blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all of his family and companions.

During its second session held on the above date, the Board reviewed the letter {No.611/55122/1352. Date: 22/11/2018} sent from His Excellency, Chairman of the Sharia Consultative Committee in charge of drawing up the Sharia and accounting standards for the classification of companies according to their compliance with the rules of Sharia. The letter was addressed to the Secretary General of the Iftaa` Dept. Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat, and it read as follows: 

I would like to bring to your kind attention the fact that the Amman Stock Exchange has formed a Sharia consultative committee to draw up the Sharia and accounting standards for the classification of companies according to their compliance with the rules of Sharia. This committee includes a number of experts in various fields of Islamic financing from both technical and Sharia perspectives. Having reviewed the resolutions of the Iftaa` Board, Fatwas of the Iftaa` Department, resolutions of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, AAOIFI Sharia Standard No.(21) about "Stock Exchange: Shares and bonds", resolutions of Sharia supervisory councils, Dow Jones Islamic Market Index, former international experiences, in addition to several research papers and studies in this filed, the committee has drawn up a draft of the above standards, subjected them to arbitration, commented on them, and set up Sharia and accounting regulations for them. 

In light of this, we would like to stress the significance of this project and its impact on strengthening and developing the Islamic economy. This is in addition to assisting investors who have the inclination to invest in companies whose businesses comply with the principles of the tolerant Islamic Sharia, and this, eventually, will lead to strengthening and supporting the national economy. We would like you to discuss the above draft with the Iftaa` Board to deliver the ruling of Sharia on it.

After deliberating the above issue, the Board decided adopting the following Sharia standards:

First: There is no harm in dealing with the shares of companies whose declared transactions and financial statements are free of the agreed upon unlawful practices.

Second: It is prohibited to trade in the shares of companies whose core business is definitely prohibited.

Third: Companies and their boards are prohibited to deal in usury, even if the latter was a small percentage.

Fourth: As for companies with mixed transactions (lawful & unlawful) the source of their business is lawful, but they accidentally dealt in some unlawful contracts or sold unlawful items, although these aren`t their basic activities nor stipulated in their registered articles of association. This mixed type must meet two conditions in order for trading in their shares to become permissible:

1- The borrowed or deposited amounts, involving usury, mustn't exceed 25% of the overall value of the company`s shares.

2- Revenues and expenditures resulting from that incidental unlawful transaction-as defined earlier  mustn't exceed 5% from the company`s overall revenues.

The evidence for these two conditions rests on the flexible rules of Islamic Jurisprudence. For example, "Pardoning the little", "Necessity must only be assessed and answered proportionately", and "A general need takes the ruling of a necessity." This is in addition to the rule, which states that the one who undertakes the prohibited action is the one liable for it while others are free from that liability. This particularly applies to modern companies shared by thousands of individuals. Therefore, it is hard for each shareholder to realize, in detail, the incidental transactions of that company.

It is the duty of every Muslim-despite the conditional permissibility of the above ruling-to get rid of the unlawful percentage of his profits, and to spend it on public interest. This is provided that no benefit is earned from the latter whatsoever. And Allah the Almighty Knows Best.

Chairperson of Iftaa` Board,

Grand Mufti of Jordan,

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh

Sheikh Abdulkareem AlKhasawneh/ Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Al-Hijjawi/ Member 

Prof. Abdullah Al-Fawaaz/ Member{Have a reservation on the word "Mixed"}.

Dr. Muhammad Khair Al-Issa/ Member

Dr. Majid Al-Darawsheh/ Member

Prof. Adam Noah/ Member{have a reservation on the fourth standard}.

Judge. Khaled Al-Worikat/ Member 

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat/ Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Zou`bi/ Member

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the wisdom behind the legislation of fasting?

Fasting is a divine school from which the believer learns much and trains in virtues that may be needed in life. Among these virtues is patience, as it is the month of patience. Fasting also teaches honesty and consciousness of Allah in both private and public, for there is no observer over the fasting person in abstaining from lawful pleasures except Allah alone.
Fasting strengthens willpower, sharpens determination, and nurtures mercy and compassion among the servants of Allah. It is a struggle against the self, a restraint of desires, a purification of the soul, and a cultivation of goodness.
The Prophetﷺ said: "Allah, the Almighty, said: ‘Every deed of the son of Adam is for him, except for fasting; it is for Me, and I shall reward for it. Fasting is a shield. So when one of you is fasting on a day, let him not engage in obscene speech or raise his voice in anger. If someone insults him or fights him, let him say: I am a fasting person. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the breath of the fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the fragrance of musk.’" [Bukhari and Muslim]

What is the ruling of Islamic Law on eating or drinking forgetfully while observing the kaffarah fasting?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
If someone eats or drinks out of forgetfulness while fasting, it is simply that Allah has fed them and given them drink. Their fast is not broken by this; rather, they should continue fasting. This ruling applies whether the fast is an obligatory one (like Ramadan), a make-up fast (Qada), an expiation (Kaffarah), or a voluntary (Nafal) fast. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling on forgetting an integral of the prayer?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
Whoever forgets an integral (Rukn) of the prayer and remembers it before reaching the equivalent point in the subsequent unit (Rak'ah), must return to it (i.e., perform it) and complete his prayer, then perform the prostration of forgetfulness (Sujud al-Sahw) at the end of his prayer. However, if he remembers it after reaching the equivalent point in the subsequent unit, the Rak'ah in which the integral was forgotten is invalidated, and the current unit takes its place; he then completes a full Rak'ah to compensate and performs the prostration of forgetfulness.
 
It is stated in Nihayat al-Muhtaj ila Sharh al-Minhaj (Vol.1/P.543): 'If he becomes certain at the end of his prayer, or after the Salam—provided the interval is not long according to custom and he has not stepped on an impurity—that he omitted a prostration from the final Rak'ah, he must perform it and repeat the Tashahhud, as his previous Tashahhud occurred before its proper place. If the omission was from a Rak'ah other than the final one, he must perform a full Rak'ah, because the deficient unit was completed by a prostration from the subsequent one, rendering the rest of that subsequent unit void.' And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What are the signs of Laylat al-Qadr?

It is said that among its signs are:
● A sense of peace and tranquility during the night.
● The sun rises on the following morning white and without strong rays.
However, one should not be preoccupied with searching for its signs at the expense of worship. Allah has hidden its exact date so that we strive in worship throughout multiple nights, ensuring that we attain its great reward.