Our Dialogue By Adil Salahi

Q. I am allocating a fixed amount of money to a bank account on a monthly basis hoping to utilize it for some good project for the needy. I do not use this money except for a purpose commensurate with how zakat should be used. My question is whether I need to actually spend the zakat amount of 2.5% of my income per annum. I mean I am separating it so as to raise a sufficient amount for something that provides continuous benefit, such as education for orphans. What it means in practice is that I am holding part of my zakat for use in the long term. Please comment.


A. You should not hold zakat from one year to the next, even if you intend to use it for a good purpose which serves the very objectives of zakat. This is because when zakat is due, its amount is no longer your property. It belongs to those who may benefit by zakat.


I understand the nobility of your purpose, but you have to devise your project in line with what Islam requires. By making zakat payable every year, Islam provides a substantial fund for the alleviation of poverty and other similarly urgent purposes. If people start to withhold some of their zakat for a future purpose, there will be a shortfall which entails suffering by the poor in the short term. This is not acceptable when the money to relieve such suffering is available.


You can still achieve your purpose by different methods. You can, for example, agree with a few friends to draw plans for some project and club together to start it soon. Each one pays his zakat or other donation so as to raise the money straightaway. If need be, you can pay next year’s zakat now in order to finance the project. You should remember that when you use zakat for a project, it has to be one for which zakat money can be used. One more point, zakat is not paid on all income, but on what is left after attending to one’s responsibilities. It is not an income tax; it is rather a wealth tax, but used for certain purposes and paid to specified groups.

Q. If it is confirmed that a pregnancy will result in the child having a serious mental disorder, such as the Down Syndrome, is it permissible for the mother to resort to abortion?


A. Abortion is allowed in Islam only when there is serious risk to the life of the mother or the child, or serious health risk to the mother. This applies at any time during the pregnancy. If the health risk is to the child only and the case is confirmed in the early period of pregnancy, a number of scholars would say that it is permissible to abort, provided that the pregnancy is less than 120 days. The majority of scholars, however, do not allow abortion in such cases, on grounds that medical research could still make advancements and could be able in future to cure the abnormality. Besides, it is not for us to decide which life is worth preserving or not. Medical research has made some advancement in dealing with diseases such as the Down Syndrome, and it could make further advancements at any time. So, why should it be left to a human being, whose knowledge is limited to the present, to decide to terminate a pregnancy on account of its having a risk of some mental disorder?


Having said that, I should add that there can be no single answer to cover all cases. In fact, every case should be dealt with on its own, taking into account all relevant information and all factors that may have a bearing on its outcome. When abortion is advised by medical experts looking at a particular case, scholars have to be consulted to determine whether abortion is permissible in that case or not.

Q.1. When misfortune befalls someone, people say that it is a punishment for his bad deeds. They are quick with comments like, ‘had he done this, he would not have suffered such misfortune’. How far does this agree with Islamic teachings?


Q.2. How important is it to divide the property of a deceased person among his heirs after his death?
What are the consequences of failure to do so?


A.1. It is wrong to link anything that happens to man with what God determines for him. This is akin to judging God’s actions and determining their causes. We should remember that the life of this world is a test for all of us. The test can take different shapes and forms. Some of us are tried with hardship, while others are tried with affluence. The Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) prayed to God to give him a sort of kingdom that no one else can have, and God granted him that, putting at his disposal certain powers that no one else ever controlled, such as the wind and authority over the jinn. He commented after a certain event in which his special powers were utilized: “This is by the grace of my Lord, so as to test me whether I am grateful or ungrateful.” (27: 40) He thus sums up the blessings God gave him, stating that they represented a test for him so that he would prove himself to be grateful. A test with hardship should prove whether we are patient in adversity. If we do, we stand to earn reward. If we were to describe a misfortune as God’s punishment and a blessing as His reward, we are actually judging His actions. No human being can do that.


A.2. It is very important to divide the inheritance of a deceased person among his heirs as soon as this is practicable. Such division allows the heirs to know what they have and use it for their needs. If it is left undivided for a period of time, this is likely to result in complications and division among close relatives. It could also lead to some of them wronging others. While there is no specific punishment for such delay, the problems that are likely to ensue could be worse than a punishment.

Q. Are there ghosts or evil spirits hovering over our heads? Can they cause us harm at will?


Ghosts are an invention of the human imagination. They have no substance, and they do not have anything to do with us. They simply do not exist. God has given us some information about the jinn, a type of creature given the same measure of free will as human beings. They are required to believe in the divine message given to Prophet Muhammad, (Pbuh) as they were required to believe in the message given to Prophet Moses, peace be upon him. Like humans, most of them do not believe. Those of them who believe are good ones, and those who turn away from faith are bad ones, or Satans.


Their world is different from ours. They do not harm us as we do not harm them. We cannot see them, although they see us.

If a son or daughter arranges for some continuing act of charity on behalf of his deceased parents, will the reward be credited to the parents or to their son or daughter?


The son or daughter who makes such an arrangement, establishing a continuing act of charity and requesting God to credit it to his parents will receive a good reward from God for being a dutiful son or daughter. The parents receive the reward of the charity in full. This is a very good way of earning reward for oneself and for one’s parents.

Q. A wealthy man died, leaving behind two sons and five daughters. Before his death, he wrote a letter in which he emphasized to his children that they must implement as it was. After his death, his heirs learned from his letter that he left his daughters equal amounts of money, but he left the bulk of his wealth to his two sons. He told all his children that he wanted them to abide by his wishes and that he would be utterly displeased with them if they were to go to court over this. His daughters feel hard done by and seem unable to determine whether to go to court or not. Please advise.


A. Islam makes clear that all wealth belongs to God. Whatever we have is His no matter how we come into it. We are simply placed in charge of it for the duration of our lives. When we die, we no longer have any say over how it is divided. Out of His grace, He has allowed us to dispense with a portion of it not exceeding one-third. We can give this away, by will, to relatives and others who are in need. Immediate relatives, like parents and children, are heirs who have their shares apportioned by God Almighty. No one can disinherit any of his heirs or increase or decrease their shares.


What this man did was to dictate his inheritance as he judged fit, depriving his daughters of a portion of their shares in the process and increasing his sons’ shares. This is not open to him, or indeed to anyone, to decide. It is a challenge to God.


His sons will be very unkind to their father if they try to enforce his will. They should be the ones who relinquish what he had given them, because it is not up to him to give. If they do not, they will be his partners in the injustice suffered by their sisters. What they should do is to pool their father’s property together and divide it in 9 equal shares. Each of the two sons takes two shares while one share goes to each of his five daughters. If they do this, they will not only release their father of the injustice he committed, but they will also gain God’s reward for their action, which is far greater than what they lose, and they gain their sisters’ love. These are far more valuable than the money and property they get from their father against God’s law.

Q. I read in a book that the Prophet (Pbuh) said during his farewell pilgrimage the following statement: “No Arab has Superiority over any non-Arab, and no non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; no dark person has superiority over a white person and no white person has any superiority over a dark person. The criterion of honor in the sight of God is righteousness and honest living”. May I request you to give me the source of this Hadith?


A. This is a well known and often quoted statement made by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his address to the people on the grand day of his pilgrimage, which is often termed as the farewell pilgrimage. In his speech, he outlined the basic principles of Islam, one of which is human equality that includes all men and women, regardless of any qualities that set them in different groupings. The speech is given with slight variations in all major anthologies of hadith, as well as the biographies of the Prophet. The wording you have used is rather longer than the Arabic original, but this may be a paraphrase of the Prophet’s statement, but the message is the same.


In all communities, people agree to a certain criteria of distin-ction. These may work for them. Islam, however, prefers the criteria that it has set for its community. Distinction is only achieved through adherence to Islamic values and observing Islamic duties and practices. In addition, a person achieves distinction through dedicated efforts to serve the cause of Islam. Otherwise, all people are equal, regardless of color, race, or ethnicity.

Q. I attend to my regular prayers but I would like to be a better Muslim and draw closer to God. What should I do?

A. The Prophet (peace be upon him) quotes God as saying in a sacred Hadith: “Nothing that a servant of Mine does is more pleasant to Me than what I have made obligatory to him. A servant of Mine will continue to offer voluntary worship until I love him.”


This Hadith clearly defines the way to draw closer to God. The most important thing in this respect is to attend to our obligatory worship: Offering the five daily prayers, paying zakah, fasting in Ramadan and doing the pilgrimage when we are able to. When we attend to these, we demonstrate that we firmly believe in God and we are willing to do His bidding. We can go further than that by voluntarily doing more in one or more of these types of worship. Some of us are ready to give more to charity than the obligatory zakat. Others are eager to pray more. Some go on pilgrimage several times during their life, while others fast frequently. Any of these actions will draw us more towards God. There are plenty of other aspects of worship that we can do to earn more reward and draw closer to God. However, one of the most important things in this aspect is to do good towards others. We should always be ready to help the weak and the vulnerable, comfort those who are going through hard times, guide those who need guidance and extend a helping hand whenever we can and to whoever needing help.

Q. May I cite a case I have read about in a newspaper whereby a court terminated the marriage of a Muslim couple on the basis of an application by their relatives. The application was based on the fact that the woman belonged to a different tribe. How can this be allowed under Islamic law? What does compatibility in marriage mean? Are not all Muslims equal?


A. Yes, all Muslims are equal. One of the teachings of the Prophet (peace be upon him) was stated in his last major address delivered during his pilgrimage. He said to us: “All of you belong to Adam who was created out of dust. An Arab has no privilege over a non-Arab, nor has a white man over a black man, except through being more God-fearing.” Thus, he made faith and good action based on it the only factors that distinguish people in Islamic society. I will limit my answer to the basic question of compatibility in marriage. A number of scholars make social equality an important factor in marriage, to the extent that they give a woman’s father the right to apply for the termination of his daughter’s marriage if he considers the marriage to be socially demeaning for his family. The basis of this view is the Hadith which mentions that a woman complained to the Prophet that her father married her to a man aiming that through this marriage he would improve his own social standing. The Prophet ordered the termination of the marriage. She then said: “Now I approve my father’s action, but I only wanted to make people aware that men cannot impose their will on women in such matters.”


When we look carefully at this Hadith and relate it to other cases during the Prophet’s lifetime, we will conclude that the termination of the marriage in this case was due to the fact that the father acted without consulting his daughter. He married her for his own reasons, hoping for a social benefit to himself. Her comment was clear. She wanted people to know that marriage can only be done on the basis of the woman’s agreement. Under Islamic law no man can force a woman into a certain marriage, without her consent.


As for social compatibility, we have the case of Zayd ibn Harithah’s marriage. The Prophet advised his own cousin, Zaynab bint Jahsh to marry him. She and her family were not initially pleased with the marriage because of Zayd’s former status as a slave, while Zaynab belonged to one of the most distinguished families in Arabia. She then went to the Prophet and asked him: “Are you, Messenger of God, happy for me to marry this man?” He said: “Yes, marry him.” She did. There were other cases where the Prophet proposed the marriage of a man of low social standing to a woman belonging to a distinguished family. In all cases, no one raised an objection. Hence, most scholars consider that all Muslims are compatible in marriage. The only factor of distinction is strength of faith and acting on its basis.