OUR DIALOGUE

Q.1. If a person offers night worship very often, but misses out on some nights due to oversleeping, when should he pray witr?

Q.2. If one is reading the Qur’an sitting on the floor, and someone close to him is sitting on a sofa, should the one reading the Qur’an move over to sit at a higher position?

Q.3. Should Zakah ul-Fitr be paid on behalf of a dead person in the first month of Ramadan after his death?

Q.4. What is the distance of travel that enables a Muslim to use the concession to shorten his prayers. Can one continue to do so if he is staying in a town for 10 days? Should he better pray the normal length.


A.1. The Prophet (Pbuh) asked Abu Bakr and Umar, when they prayed Witr. Abu Bakr told him that he prayed early in the night, while Umar said he prayed late at night. The Prophet said that Abu Bakr resorted to the more cautious practice, while Umar’s way required firm resolve. There is no doubt that to be cautious is to ensure that the Witr is prayed on time and not missed.

The other method required firmer resolve and a more determined approach. He did not say to either that the other method was better. This means that you can choose either method. If you regularly wake up for night worship, it is better to pray the Witr after you have finished such voluntary night worship. When you feel extra tired at the time you go to bed and fear that you may not wake up for your night worship, then pray Witr before you go to sleep. If you do not wake up on the odd night and you have not prayed Witr, you can pray it when you offer your dawn or morning prayer, or you may leave it. If you pray Witr before you go to bed, and then wake up before dawn for your night worship, there is nothing to stop you praying. You do not need to pray Witr again at the end.

A.2. When you read the Qur’an, your position in relation to others does not matter, as long as there is no disrespect.. It happens in every home that someone sits on a sofa while another is sitting on the floor. No one feels that he is in a better position for being on the sofa. Why should such thoughts occur to you? Moreover, it is not where you are seated that matters; it is how you respect the Qur’an and think of its meanings and message.

A.3. No. When a person dies, he no longer has any worship duty to be performed. Zakah ul-Fitr is due on everyone who is alive during Ramadan. Zakah is not due on a person who dies before Ramadan. It should not be paid either from his estate or on his behalf by anyone of his relatives.

A.4. Some schools of thought speak of a distance like 85 kilometers as the shortest travel justifying the use of the concession to shorten 4-rak’ah prayers to make them 2-rak’ah only. However, a more valid point of view is that whatever commonly considered as travel, makes this concession usable. Thus, if the common notion among people that when people go from Makkah to Jeddah, they are on travel, then going from one of these cities to the other justifies using the concession. It is the traditional, common view that counts, not distance in miles and kilometers.

Q. Will not the second coming of Jesus affect our belief that Muhammad is the last of God’s prophets and messengers? The Qur’an says that Jesus gave his followers the news that a messenger would be following him at a later time, naming Prophet Muhammad. How come that the Prophet tells us that Jesus will come after him? What sort of physical and mental condition is Jesus in, now that he is more than 2000 years of age?


A. When Prophet Jesus gave the news that Prophet Muhammad would be sent with his message after him, he was speaking in terms of human life on earth. Thus, Prophet Muhammad was sent with God’s final message to mankind early in the seventh century, i.e. 610 years after Jesus. Jesus, however, was raised to heaven as God tells us in the Qur’an. His life there is unlike life on earth. When Prophet Muhammad told us that Jesus would be coming back, this speaks of a second coming to establish God’s message. Now all prophets and messengers taught the same message, based on God’s oneness.

This message was given its final and complete form with the advent of Muhammad (peace be upon him). When Jesus comes back, this is the message that he will advocate, i.e. the complete form of Islam. There is no contradiction here. As to how life in heaven affects Prophet Jesus, physically and mentally, we certainly do not know. What we know is that it is a different life from ours and that aging does not apply to it as it applies to life on earth.

Q: Some people try to impose on others their method and practices, when religion is a matter of faith, and a relationship between God and man. Does Islam sanction any such imposition?


A: No, nobody may impose anything on another, whether by physical force or any other method. God says in the Qur’an: “No compulsion is admitted in matters of religion.” This fits perfectly with the Islamic view that religion is a personal choice which must be made in complete freedom, without any coercion.
Some people may wonder why a child of ten may be beaten if he does not offer his prayers. This is simply a method of upbringing and education. A child should be encouraged to pray when he is seven years of age. If he refuses to pray, then at the age of ten, a method more serious than mere order may be employed to get him to pray, so that he would have formed the habit of attending to his prayers regularly when prayer becomes obligatory to him on attaining puberty. At this age, corporal punishment is frequently used by parents to instill some discipline into the child. This must always remain very mild, because the aim is to get the child to understand the seriousness of the matter.

When the child is older, this method must stop, because it will no longer be effective in getting the child to pray regularly. Moreover, when prayer becomes obligatory to a child, he should offer it in discharge of his duty, not because he fears to be beaten. I am afraid those who try to compel people to offer their worship in a certain way often exceed the limits allowed by Islam. The worth of worship is in the fact that it is offered at one’s own behest, in response to God’s command, not for fear of any human authority.

Q. I am very confused on certain issues. Is the time of a person’s death predetermined so as to come no matter what measure we take. Suppose one has a serious illness, and doctors give him the right treatment: will he die whether he takes the treatment or not? Can our choices influence our life expectancy? My husband smokes, and no matter what I or our children say, he will not stop smoking. Will my prayers that God keeps him safe and ward off from him some of the effects of smoking, keeping him for me and my family? Or is it all ineffective?


A. Our life span is determined by God, and He knows the exact moment when each one of us will meet death. Does this mean that whatever we do will not affect us in any way, with regard to how long we live? No, things are not like that.

Our actions constitute an important aspect of what happens to us. God has determined that we are affected by what we do and what we are exposed to. Hence, the Prophet instructs us that should we learn that an infectious disease has spread in a certain area, we should not go into it, and if we are in that area, we should not leave it. The reason is obvious, which is to avoid the spread of that disease. Likewise, he tells us to seek medical treatment, adding: “God has not created a disease without creating a cure for it. Should the medical treatment administer the right remedy for our disease, it will be cured by God’s will.” What this means is that God has willed that should you get the right treatment for your illness, you will be cured. By contrast, if the treatment is not the right one, the illness will take its course. All this is subject to the law of cause and effect, which is a law God has put in place. From another point of view, supplication, or dua, is always answered, either immediately or at a later time. If it is postponed, that is because God wants to give us something better for it. So we should not refrain from praying to God, requesting Him to give us the good things we desire.
God will answer our prayers unless we pray to Him to bring some evil on people we dislike. What this means is that when your husband smokes, he exposes himself to all the health hazards that smoking presents. Smoking is a major cause of at least 25 killer diseases, but this does not mean that everyone who smokes will suffer all these diseases. Other factors come into play, such as hereditary factors, unhealthy eating, lack of exercise, obesity, exposure to other health risks, etc. Hence, some smokers are far more seriously affected than others.

How does this affect the time determined for a person’s death? You have to remember that time as we know, does not apply to God. Time is brought about by the position of the earth in relation to the sun and how the earth revolves and moves in its orbit. God knows everything that happens to us, even before we come into existence.

He knows what illnesses we will have throughout our lives, and whether we will have the right treatment or not, will be cured or not, etc. He knows whether we will pray to Him for a particular purpose and how and when He will answer our prayers. So all are taken into consideration before the length of our life is determined. What this means in practice is that we should do whatever we can to lead a healthy life and pray to God to bless it for us, sparing us all evil.

Q. Could you please give the order in which heirs, in the Islamic system of inheritance, take their shares. Can we say, for example, that the deceased’s parents take their shares first, then the spouse, then the daughters, then the sons, etc.? Who comes next? You have often mentioned in your answers that the estate is to be divided into 24 shares and then we divide these to the heirs. How does this work out? It seems often very difficult. Please explain.


A. The Islamic system of inheritance specifies certain rights that should be met from a person’s estate before any heir can take any portion. The first of these is the expenses of the burial of the deceased. The second claim is the repayment of any debts he left outstanding. The final one is the execution of his will. A Muslim is allowed to bequeath by will a portion of his estate that does not exceed one-third. This goes to any charitable purpose, such as payments to some relatives who are not heirs, some poor neighbors, or the education of poor children, or to a charitable endowment, etc. The Prophet specified that this can be in a portion of one-third, but he added that one-third is plenty, encouraging us to keep it at less than that.

When these claims have been paid out, what is left goes to the heirs of the deceased. These vary according to who of the deceased’s relative has survived him or her. It should be remembered that what counts here is being alive at the moment of the deceased’s death. This means that if an heir, such as a spouse, a child or a parent of the deceased dies only a few minutes later, that heir inherits, and this inheritance is counted among that person’s own estate to be divided among his own heirs. Suppose that a car accident results in the death of a man and his father, but the father dies five minutes or half an hour after the son has died. The father in this case inherits from the son. Suppose that the son is married but has no children, while he has brothers, sisters and mother surviving him. His wife will inherit one-quarter of his estate. One-sixth goes to his mother, and his father takes the rest. Nothing goes to his siblings. They inherit from their father when he dies.

The first claim is that of the first-degree heirs. These inherit together. We cannot say that parents inherit before children, because they are all in the same degree. The first-degree heirs are those in the direct line that goes upward and downward at the same time, so as to include parents and grandparents and great-grandparents as well as children, grandchildren and their children. It also includes the deceased’s spouse. Some of these have specified shares, while others take the remainder, dividing it among themselves according to certain rules. What is important to remember is that in this line, we move one step at a time, with those who are in the closer step to the deceased inheriting but not those in the next step. Thus grandparents do not inherit anything if the deceased’s parents are alive. A grandfather does not inherit from his grandson, unless the grandson’s father (i.e. the grandfather’s son) is dead. Likewise, grandchildren do not inherit if their parents are alive. There are certain additional rules concerning the inheritance of grandchildren. This is logical because Islam lays down a rule making “gain commensurate with responsibility”. A father is responsible for the upbringing of his children. An adult son is duty bound to look after his parents, if they have no income of their own. Therefore, the one with such responsibility inherits so as to be able to discharge his responsibility.

Spouses and parents inherit specified shares, such as one-sixth of the estate for each parent in the case of the deceased being survived by one child or more. What is left goes to the children. If the deceased has daughters only and no sons, his children are given specified shares, such as one-half of the estate for one daughter, and two-thirds for two or more daughters.

Only when there are not enough heirs of the first degree that other relatives may inherit. If a deceased person’s heirs include his father or one son, then no one from the other degrees, such as his brothers and sisters, will inherit anything.
Sometimes we say that the estate is to be divided into 6, 8, 12, 16, 24 shares, or any other number. If I frequently said that it is divided into 24, that was only coincidental to the cases I was treating. Dividing into such numbers of shares depends only on the actual status of the heirs and their relation with the deceased. Each case is treated on its own. There is no rule that defines a number of shares applicable to all cases. With all the different situations that can exist, no formula can have such a universal applicability. Hence, we decide the number in each case according to the heirs and their specified shares. Scholars have always worked on the basis of whole shares to each heir. They do not say, 3.5 shares to this one and 1.75 to his sister. They would rather work on 4 shares to the one and 2 to the other. Hence, the total number of shares always differs.

Q: Is it permissible to keep a bird in a cage at home? Is it right to deny freedom to such a creature of God?


A: What is not permissible in Islam is to be cruel to any animal, unless it represents danger to human life, health, etc. Thus, it is perfectly permissible to kill a scorpion or a snake, or a poisonous insect, etc. When an animal is kept as pet, such as a cat or a bird, it is very important to provide for it sufficient movement and exercise in addition to its natural food and drink. If an animal is used to move over a spacious area, as in the case of birds, it is unacceptable from the Islamic point of view to restrict it to narrow confinements. Thus, when we put a bird in a small cage, restricting its flying movement to the small confines of the cage, we are placing it under a severe handicap.

We do the same when we place fish in a small aquarium. It is not enough that we provide it with food and drink. On the other hand, it is a grave sin to restrict an animal’s movement without providing it with sufficient food and drink.
While certain animals are created to help man in his life, as in the case of camels, horses, donkeys, etc. some are not made in that way. Therefore, while treating animals, one should take their nature into account, and not subject the animal to too much duress.

Q. I have two brothers and three sisters. I live with my family and my parents in the ground floor of our house. My brother lives with his family in the upper floor, which he has built, while my other brother lives in a separate home. Our parents want to divide the property between their children. How should it be shared out?


A. When one or both parents want to share out some or all of their assets among their children during their own lifetime, they are actually giving gifts to their children. In gifts, all children, sons and daughters, are alike and they all should be treated equally. There should be no favouritism on any basis. A highly authentic Hadith is reported by Al-Numan ibn Basheer who said that his father took him to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and said: “I have given this son of mine a slave as a gift and I would like you, Messenger of God, to witness this gift.” The Prophet asked him whether he had given each one of his children a similar gift. Basheer said that he did not. The Prophet told him: “Then seek for yourself a different witness, because I do not witness injustice.”
This Hadith makes clear that to give a gift to one or more of your children without giving others is injustice, and all injustice is forbidden in Islam. There can be no question about that. Moreover, the Prophet’s question did not specify sons. He spoke about the man’s children, which means sons and daughters. They all should receive similar gifts in order to maintain fairness.

The question the reader asks does not provide enough information about the property to be shared out and who paid for what portion of it. One son lives away from the family home. Does he own the place? Was he helped by his parents in buying it? What about the floor built by the second son: who paid for the construction? If it is the second son, did he receive help from his parents, other than the space and the permission to build? These are questions that need to be answered.

Since the sharing out is focused on the building itself, it should be valued, and the share of the son who lives on the first floor should also be valued. The net value of the parents’ property should be ascertained. Then it should be shared out equally between the six children, i.e. the three sons and the three daughters. In doing so, some of the children might want to buy shares of other siblings, i.e. paying them in cash for their shares in the house, so that they have a larger portion of the house. The parents should retain the right to live in the house for the rest of their lives, so that they do not come to grief as a result of their kindly action. In sharing out, any benefit received by any of the children and any liability they incurred should be taken into account. For example, if the son who lives on his own received substantial help from his parents to buy his house, that help should be taken into account in determining his share. Also the share of the second son should be carefully calculated, taking into account what he has already received.

An important point to realize is that giving gifts to one’s children is different from the way they share out their inheritance from their parents. In inheritance, sons receive twice as much as daughters, but in gifts they are all equal.