Zakat, which Islam has enjoined upon Muslims, marks the lowest limit of the expression of human sympathy, kindness and compassion. It is a duty, the disregard or violation of which is not in any circumstances tolerable to God. The Shariah is emphatic in its insistence upon its observance. It has prescribed it as an essential requirement of Faith for Muslims.
But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due, then they are your brethren (Al-Tawba:11)
Compiled and written By M.S Omar based on the Arabic Lecture Notes
of Justice Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani attended by the Writer
The Meaning Of Fatwa
In its original linguistic sense, the Word Fatwa means an answer to a question irrespective of whether such question relates to an issue of Shariah or not. Thereafter, the word acquired a technical meaning in the sense that it was confined to an answer given in response to a question relating to an issue of Shariah or the Deen.
By Khalid Baig
“Verily, he who has purified the heart is successful and he who has despoiled it has lost.”
The Straight Path has been laid out. Our job is only to follow it, not to try to discover new paths.
By Khalid Baig
Once some Jewish scholars said to Sayyidna Umar bin Khattab, Radi-Allahu unhu, “The Qur’an contains a verse that if it had been revealed to us, we would have designated a day to celebrate its revelation.” Upon enquiry they mentioned the verse: “This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.” [Al-Maida 5:3] “Yes, I know, the time and place when it was revealed,” he replied.
Muharram is the month with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. It is one of the four sanctified months about which the Holy Quran says, “The number of the months according to Allah is twelve (mentioned) in the Book of Allah on the day He created heavens and the earth. Among these (twelve months) there are four sanctified.”
These four months, according to the authentic traditions, are Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram and Rajab. All the commentators of the Holy Quran are unanimous on this point, because the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, in his sermon on the occasion of his last Hajj, declared: “One year consists of twelve months, of which four are sanctified months, three of them are in sequence; Dhul-Qa’dah, Dhul-Hijjah, Muharram, and the fourth is Rajab.”
Rasulullah (sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) spoke highly of women with the following two qualities:
1) Loving and intelligent care for her children.
2) Protecting her husband’s wealth.
It is a great pity that most women today, reeling under the impact of the liberal and kufr cult of the west, are sorely deficient in these two qualities so necessary for the Pious Muslim Woman. Babies are assigned to the care of non-Muslim maids who utterly lack any akhlaaq and honor. Muslim children must necessarily suffer great moral harm in the care of non-Muslim maids.
This includes overbearing the weak, the male slave, the female slave, the wife and the beast. Allah, the Almighty ordered us to deal in kindness towards these varieties. He said,
{Serve Allah and join not any partners with Him, and do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, those in need, neighbors who are of kin, neighbors who are strangers, the companion by your side, the way-fairer( ye meet) and what your right hands possess: for Allah loveth not the arrogant, the vainglorious} (An-Nisa’: 36)
Concerning Allah’s saying,
{Serve Allah, and join not any partners with Him}
However, this distribution is an order of the Shariah. The necessity of having our matters absolutely clear also requires that the estate should be speedily distributed. Ignoring this basic order also becomes a means of serious conflict. As time passes, the other heirs constantly remember their right in the estate which they have not received as yet. They are grieved by this. Also as time passes the value of the estate differs greatly compared to the time of the death of the father. Hence, since nothing was clarified, the matter now becomes complicated. To amicably resolve the complications becomes a difficult matter. As a result the matter finally results in disputes, quarrels, and fights. (Often one particular member of the family takes it upon himself to handle the winding up process. He alone knows what he is doing. Sometimes months and years drag along and the other heirs are not even informed of what is happening. This creates much suspicion and ill-feeling which later explodes into severe conflicts and disputes. It is therefore necessary that all the heirs should sit down together as soon as possible and mutually decide as to how the winding-up process should be handled. All the heirs should then be regularly informed as to what progress has been made)
The third situation pertains to the winding up of the estate. When a person passes away, the Shariah requires that his estate must be immediately wound up and distributed among the Shar’i heirs.
Greeting and congratulating one another with special wordings is another aspect which enhances the joy of this day. This has been the practice of the honorable Sahabah radi allahu anhum, Tabieen رحمهم الله as well as those coming thereafter. There are several narrations which support this practice of theirs. A few of these are quoted below:
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