Questions and Answers By Renowned Ulama
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1. A woman was impregnated by a rapist. Is it permissible for her to abort the foetus?
A. The Rooh (soul) enters the foetus on the 120th day. From that day onwards abortion will be haraam, and not permissible under any circumstances whatsoever. In the circumstances, it will be permissible before the 120th day.
2. Q. Does the Hadith prohibit oxymel (vinegar-honey tonic)?
A. To the best of our knowledge there is no Hadith which prohibits oxymel (vinegar-honey tonic). If there was such a Hadith, it would surely have been known by this time. Numerous Muadditheen and Ulama have written on honey. Many of there names and comments are in the honey article which you have attached. Allaamah Aalusi (rahmatullah alayh) has mentioned one view of some physicians who believe that oxymel is harmful for people with certain types of sickness. One type is Safraawi (i.e. a person with yellow jaundice). Imaam Ghazaali (rahmatullah alayh) has also mentioned that honey (not oxymel) is harmful for people with certain types of sickness. This is not based on any Hadith. It is the conclusion of the research of some physicians. There is and will always be difference of opinion in every field of knowledge.
3. Q. According to a Mufti it is permissible to sell over the counter birth control pills to just anyone. Does this not encourage zina? He bases his answer on a principle in Raddul Muhtaar. The Mufti says that the seller should assume that the pill will be used lawfully.
A. The Mufti has erred. He has not applied his mind to the evils and moral dangers of selling the ‘zina’ pill over the counter. His argument that it is permissible to freely sell just everything which is permissible to use lacks wisdom. A Mufti is required to take into consideration the habits, practices, norms, attitudes of people. There are many circumstances which have to be considered before issuing a fatwa simply based on a dry juridical principle. While the principle mentioned in Raddul Muhtaar is 100% correct, the Mufti is required to have viewed it in the light of the Qur’aanic aayat: “Do not come near to zina”, as well as other Fiqhi principles. To sell grapes is perfectly permissible. But to enter into a contract with a winery to sell grapes is haraam.
He says that the seller should ‘assume that the pill will be used lawfully’. In the present age of immorality the inference that young unmarried persons buying the pill require it for zina is valid. It is known that zina is practised on a massive scale in this immoral age. Hence, even if it is initially lawful to sell the pill for a valid reason, it is not permissible to sell it over the counter to just anyone, especially unmarried persons. When there are reasonable grounds for assuming that the pill will be put to evil use then it is haraam to sell it to all and sundry. Ifta’ (issuing fatwas) is a deep and dangerous ocean. It is not for everyone who holds a ‘mufti’ certificate to dive into this ocean. Nowadays muftis lead the masses astray with their corrupt fatwas.
4. Q. Which colours are forbidden for males? What about the bright-coloured robes which Muslim men wear in West Africa?
A. All bright feminine colours such as red, yellow, pink, purple, saffron, etc. are prohibited for men. We have observed in West Africa, Muslim men wearing bright-coloured traditional garments. The colours are distinctly feminine, and this is not permissible.
5. Q. I am a follower of the Maaliki Math-hab. How many Salaams are there in Salaat?
A. According to the Maaliki Math-hab, the Imaam and the Munfarid make only one Salaam to the right. There is no left Salaam for them. However, the muqtadis (followers) should make three Salaams: One Salaam towards the right to end the Salaat; one Salaam in front as a response to the Imaam, and one Salaam to the left as a response to those on his left side.
6. Q. In the third raka’t of Fardh Salaat, if someone recites a Surah after Surah Faatihah, should Sajdah Sahw be made?
A. If in the third raka’t of Fardh even a Surah is recited, there is no need for Sajdah Sahw. However, in the third raka’t of Fardh it is better to recite only Surah Faatihah.
7. Q. According to the Hadith, food should be covered during the night. If food was left uncovered throughout the night, may it be eaten?
A. Food left uncovered throughout the night remains halaal. However, there is a possibility of shaitaan having interfered with the open food. It is therefore best to feed it to the animals. But it remains permissible. However, caution demands that one abstains. It is mentioned in the Hadith that on a particular night during the year, a calamity descends from the skies and settles on uncovered foodstuff. The effect is disease and other misfortunes. The specific night is not mentioned. For example, if one is told that someone may have added some poison to the food during the night time, we are sure no one will eat the food.
8. Q. What is Takfeer?
A. Takfeer in the terminology of the Shariah means to declare that a person is a kaafir. When a person denies an established teaching of Islam or he mocks it or he misinterprets it to change its meaning from the established meaning which has come down from the Sahaabah, or he commits an act of kufr, e.g. worships in a temple/church, or he dresses like a Hindu pundit, or he approves of a kuffaar system thereby derogating and displacing the Islamic system then such a person becomes a ‘kaafir’. Rejection of any established practice of Islam is kufr. The Fuqaha say, for example: “Miswaak is Sunnat, but its denial is kufr.”
9. Q. When a person committed kufr what are the consequences?
A. When a person becomes a kaafir –Allah forbid – he loses his Imaan, and his nikah terminates forthwith. He has to repent, renew his Imaan and also his nikah. All his past deeds are obliterated by his kufr. Even if he had performed Hajj before, he will again have to perform Hajj if he is by the means. A Muslim who reneges from Islam is termed murtad. If he dies without having repented and renewing his Imaan, he will suffer everlasting damnation in the Hereafter.
10.Q. Is it permissible for a Muslim to be a judge in a non-Muslim court?
A. No, it is not permissible. The Qur’aan Majeed states explicitly: “Those who do not decide (govern/rule) according to that (Law) which Allah has revealed, verily they are the kaafiroon.” The details of Takfeer are to be found in the Books of Fiqh.
11. Q. During Eid Salaat the Imaam had by mistake omitted the extra Takbeers in the second raka’t. But he did not make Sajdah Sahw. Was the Salaat valid?
A. The Salaat is valid even if the Imaam did not make Sajdah Sahw.
12. Q. Is it permissible to kill a wounded animal which is suffering?
A. If the animal is wounded and suffering, it is permissible to terminate its life. However, wherever possible, the method of termination according to the Fuqaha is Thabah, even if it is a dog. It has to be slaughtered and Tasmiah should be recited.
13. Q. The imaam of our Musjid allows persons with short sleeves, without topi and wearing jeans and T-shirt to lead the Salaat. Sometimes the kurtah is below the ankles. Is the Imaam’s action permissible? The fellow with jeans and T-shirt puts on a jubbah when he goes forward.
A. It is Makrooh Tahrimi and not permissible to be dressed with short sleeves and without topi during Salaat. It is not permissible to appoint such a person to lead the Salaat. If the kurtah is below the ankles, then he is a faasiq. The faasiq should not be appointed to lead the Salaat even if he disguises himself with a jubbah. It is not permissible for the appointed Imaam to appoint the faasiq to lead the Salaat. It is haraam to allow a fellow wearing jeans and T-shirt to lead the Salaat.
14. Q. On 9th Zil Hajj at Arafaat, is it permissible for people in their tents to combine Zuhr and Asr Salaat? Some persons have been performing their own Zuhr-Asr jamaa’t in their tents.
A. One of the conditions for the validity for combining Zuhr and Asr Salaat on the 9th Zil Hajj is that these two Salaat have to be performed behind the Imaam. The combination is not valid if performed by groups in their tents.
15. Q. Is it permissible for Hanafis to follow a Shaafi’ Imaam in Witr Salaat during Ramadhaan? If the Imaam is a Hanafi, can Shaafi’s follow in the Witr? Is there any difference in the Musjids in Makkah and Madina (the Haramain)?
A. It is not permissible for a Hanafi to follow a Shaafi’ Imaam in Witr. The reason for the prohibition are: (a) The Shaafi makes niyyat of Sunnat whereas for the Hanafi it is Waajib. (b) The Shaafi performs two and one raka’ts separately, i.e. with two Salaams whereas this is not permissible for Hanafis. This ruling applies in all Musaajid, even in the Haramain Musjids.
It is permissible for the Shaafi’ to follow the Hanafi in Witr since three raka’ts performed by the Wasl method is valid.
16. Q. When does Takbeer Tashreek commence for followers of the Maaliki Math-hab?
A. According to the Maaliki Math-hab, Takbeer Tashreeq begins on the 10th after Zuhr Salaat and continues for a total of 15 Fardh Salaat, ending after the Fajr Salaat on the 13th. According to the Hanafi Math-hab, it is a total of 23 Salaat, from after Fajr of the 9th until after Asr of the 13th.
17. Q. During the Gaza crisis people have been gathering in Musjids to recite khatam of Surah Yaaseen in congregation. Is this a Sunnat practice during calamities?
A. The collective recitation of Yaaseen Shareef after Isha for the ostensible purpose of making dua for the afflicted Palestinian Muslims is another trick of the nafs to divert people from the Sunnah, to implicate them into bid’ah and to appease their taste for riya. There is no such practice in the Sunnah. Although Dua-e-Qunoot was recited by Rasulullah (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), he did it only once in his lifetime. It was not a standard practice among the Sahaabah. Furthermore, due to the riya nowadays being dominant, especially in the imams who conduct the Dua-e-Qunoot, Hadhrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi
