Simplified Fiqhi Encyclopedia Questions and Answers Dr. Magda Amer New Vision for Translation and Culture 2010 © All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author. First Edition 1431 A.H. / 2010 A.C. Author: Dr. Magda Amer Translation Dept. Director: Ahmad M. Hasan General Director: Sheikh Muhammad `Abdu New Vision for Translation and Culture Cairo, Egypt. P.O. Box: 34 Al-Qalaa Tel.: +229720463 Mobile: +2 011 0247040 www.newvision.tc [email protected] Deposit No.: I.S.B.N.: II Publisher's Note Praise be to Allah alone, peace and blessings be upon the last Prophet, his family and those who follow him until the Day of Judgement. Allah (Exalted be He) has enacted laws for the Ummah to make it easier to abide by His creed and Shari`ah. Fiqh corrects the civilizational cycle of the Ummah through the juristic rulings so that the work and movement of the Ummah run according to Islam and its commands. For that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, "If Allah wants to do good to a person, he makes him comprehend the religion." (Reported by Al-Bukhari). This book in hand is a translation of an Arabic book titled Al-Mawsu`ah Al- Fiqhiyyah Al-Muyassarah [Simplified Fiqhi Encyclopedia: Questions and Answers], written by Dr. Magda `Amer. Since translation is an arduous task that requires precision and dedication, we have exerted ourselves to produce this precious work, but perfection is only Divine. In addition, due to the delicate nature of the subject as well as the special style of the Arabic language, the translation in hand is not literal; our translators and revisers have done their best to render the text legible. On various occasions, they have amended the Arabic text by way of paraphrasing, rearranging and summarizing. New Vision would like to express deep thanks to Dr. Magda `Amer for giving us the chance to translate such a precious work, supplicating Almighty Allah to make it profitable to Islam and Muslims. Also, we would like to thank our teamwork, especially Muhammad Sha`ban, Muhammad S. Abdul-Dhahir, Mayyada Ramadan, Samah Abdel-Hakam, Amgad Hasan, and Omar Shehab for their efforts in translating and revising the major part of this book. Great appreciation is due to Ahmad M. Hasan, Emily Richardson, and Selma Cook our editors, under whose guidance and supervision the subject matter took form. Finally, all praise is due to Allah, through His Blessings all good deeds are completed. General Director Sheikh Muhammad `Abdu III IV Introduction Praise be to Allah Whom we ask for forgiveness and in Whom we seek refuge from the evils of our selves and bad deeds. I testify that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. Allah (Exalted be He) says, You who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared. [Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always], and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims) with complete submission to Allah. (Al `Imran: 102) Allah (Exalted be He) obligates us to worship Him, and He (Exalted be He) makes this worship the greatest goal of humanity; as He says: And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone). (Adh-Dhariyat: 56) This book has addressed the Fiqh of acts of worship by posing questions and providing suitable answers for them beside other available opinions submitted by Muslim scholars in a brief and flexible manner. However, specialists in tackling additional questions come to mind in every branch of Fiqh are to sail for more Juristic rulings. I have exerted my utmost efforts to facilitate the answers for each question without offering every possible opinion. Whatever is good is by Allah's Success and whatever proves wrong is due to my fault and that of Satan. We ask Allah's Forgiveness for our sins and repent to Him. We pray for Allah (Glorified be He) to shelter us from whims, slips of the pen and lapsus linguae. May Allah benefit the Muslims from this task and lead us to the precious science and righteous deeds. Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad Dr. Magda Amer V Important Terms Niyyah: Lexically, it means intention. Technically, it means the intention to do something coupled with its implementation, and it is among the actions of the heart that are not to be uttered. Conditions for the validity of Niyyah: 1. Embracing Islam. 2. Having the power of discernment. 3. Knowing about the intended action. Definition of Shart (condition): The element external to the object, which if non-existent invalidates the related act of worship, such as completing Wudu' (ablution) as a condition for the validity of prayer. Definition of Rukn (pillar): It is an intrinsic part of the object, such as Takbirat-ul-Ihram (saying: "Allahu Akbar [Allah is the Greatest]" upon starting prayer) being one of the pillars of prayer. Definition of Bid`ah: Every newly introduced act in religion. Definition of the valid act of worship: It is the act that conforms to the Shari`ah through fulfilling its pillars and conditions and through the non-existence of impediments. Definition of the valid contract: A valid contract is that which does not contradict the Shari`ah – through lacking a pillar or a condition or through the existence of impediments – and thus entails Shar`i (Islamically lawful) consequences, such as the lawfulness of a man having intercourse with his wife due to the validity of the marriage contract. The invalid contract is classified as: • Corrupt contract: it is missing a condition and contains impediments. It entails Shar`i consequences, such as concluding a marriage without witnesses, and it is then a corrupt contract that necessitates observation 1 of `Iddah (a woman's prescribed waiting period after divorce or widowhood) following separation and establishment of parentage after the consummation of the marriage. • Void contract: It involves a defect in the nature of the pillars of the contract, the contracting parties and the contracted object, and it does not entail any Shar`i consequences. According to the majority of Muslim scholars, a corrupt contract is synonymous with a void one, except in the case of marriage contracts. They claim that a corrupt marriage contract is one to which there are no witnesses or Waliy (a legally accountable person acting for a woman seeking marriage), while a void marriage contract is that in which a man marries his sister or mother. Hanafis, however, hold that a void contract is synonymous with a corrupt one, regardless of the type of contract. Definition of Ada' (timely performance): This is the performance of an obligation within the legally fixed time. Definition of Qada' (delayed performance): This is the performance of an obligation outside the legally fixed time. Definition of I`adah: This is a repeat of the performance of an obligation within the legally fixed time due to the occurrence of a defect in the first performance. Definition of Halal: Halal comprises everything that is not stated to be prohibited in the Shari`ah. The general ruling on all things is permissibility unless the Shari`ah declares it impermissible. Accountability rulings: According to the majority of Muslim scholars, the accountability rulings are divided into five types: Obligatory – desirable – permissible – reprehensible – prohibited. 1. The obligatory: It is that which the Shari`ah obligates the Mukallaf (a person meeting the conditions to be held legally accountable for his/her actions) to do through a conclusive injunction; the one who does it is rewarded, the one who neglects it is punished, and the one who denies it is declared a disbeliever. 2 The following are forms of the obligatory duties: • An obligation that is included within another one, such as Ruku` (bowing) in prayer. • An obligation that is not included in other obligations, such as `Asr Prayer and fasting Ramadan. The Fard is divided into: Fard `Ayn (individual obligation): An obligation that every Mukallaf is required to perform, such as the five daily prayers. Fard Kifayah (collective obligation): An obligation which, when performed by some, is dropped for the rest of the community, such as the funeral prayer. In this regard, Abu Hanifah viewed that Fard is different from Wajib, as he states that: • Fard is an obligatory command in the case of its supporting evidence being speculative, such as Witr prayer, knowing that neglecting a Wajib act during pilgrimage – such as spending the night in Mina after standing on `Arafat – is made up for by slaughtering a sacrifice. Here, Hanafis differentiate between Fard and Wajib in pilgrimage as follows: • According to them, Fard is an obligatory command demanded by the Shari`ah based on a definitive text, that slaughtering a sacrifice does not make up for, such as Tawaf-ul-Ifadah (final obligatory circumambulation around the Ka`bah in Hajj). • Wajib – also according to Hanafis – is an obligatory command demanded by the Shari`ah based on a speculative text – such as Hadith-ul-Ahad [a hadith which, at some point in the chain of narrators, has only a single narrator] and the two `Eid Prayers – that it is acceptable to make up for by slaughtering a sacrifice, such as spending the night in Mina. In addition, Fard becomes an obligation in the case of it being based on definitive evidence, such as prayer, zakah, and pilgrimage.