706. Zakaat On Property For Personal Use

By Asma bint Shameem

1. As for property or the things a person owns, if it is for his PERSONAL use, NO Zakaah is due on it, even if it’s a lot. 

So NO Zakaah is due on cars, house, land, furniture, laptops, clothes, etc. 

That’s because the Prophet sal Allaahu Alayhi wa sallam said:

“No zakaah is due from the Muslim on his horse or his slave.” 

(al-Bukhaari, Muslim)

Imaam an-Nawawi said: 

“This hadith is the basis for the ruling that personal property is not subject to zakaah. … This is the view of all the scholars, from the earlier and later generations.”

[Sharh Saheeh Muslim (7/55)]

2. Zakaah is due on gold that’s kept as mortgage collateral 

That’s because the gold still belongs to you and is counted as your wealth. 

The scholars said:

“If this gold reaches the nisaab (minimum threshold) or you have other gold which, when added to it, brings it to the nisaab, then you must pay zakaah on it when one year has passed. The fact that it is being held in pledge in return for the debt does not mean that zakaah is not due on it, because you own it outright.”

(Islamqa Fatwa 99311)

Imaam Al-Nawawi said: 

“If livestock or *any other wealth* that is subject to zakaah is being held in pledge, and one year has passed, then zakaah must be paid on it, because it is owned outright.”

[al-Majmoo’ (5/318)]

And Allaah knows best

705. How Can One Celebrate Eid If He Is Travelling To Other Country?

By Asma bint Shameem

He will fast according to the country where he is at that time. 

And also celebrate Eid accordingly. 

So if now he is in India then he will finish his fasting according to India and celebrate Eid whenever Muslims of India celebrate Eid. 

But if the total number of fasts is less than 29, the he must make up one fast after Eid because a lunar month cannot be less than 29 days.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: 

“If a man travels from one country to another where the moonsighting was different, the basic principle is that he should start and end the fast according to the country he is in when it is established that the month has ended. But if that means that he has fasted for less than twenty-nine days, then he has to complete the number, because the lunar month cannot be less than twenty-nine days. This principle is based on the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “When you see it (the new moon) then fast, and when you see it then break the fast,” and “The month is twenty-nine days, so do not fast until you see it, and do not stop fasting until you see it.” 

And in the hadeeth of Kurayb is says that Umm al-Fadl sent him to Mu’aawiyah in Syria, and Kurayb told Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the people had seen the new moon of Ramadhaan on Friday night in Syria. 

Ibn ‘Abbaas said: 

“But we saw it on Saturday night, so we will carry on fasting until we complete thirty days or until we see it.” 

Kurayb said: “Is not the sighting and fasting of Mu’aawiyah sufficient for you?” He said: “No; this is what the Messenger of Allaah Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam enjoined upon us.” 

(Majmoo’ Fataawa Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen 69/19)

And Allaah knows best

704. Istihaadhah

By Asma bint Shameem 

1. Basically if the spotting/colored discharge is continuous and connected to the actual bleeding, then it counts as your menses. 

But if you get random spotting that’s not connected to your menses and it occurs *after* a day or more since you’ve been ‘clean’, then that counts as Istihaadhah. 

The sahaabiyaat used to ignore any spotting/ discharge that happened AFTER their period was over and they had seen purity. 

Umm ‘Atiyyah radhi Allaahu anhaa said: 

“We did not bother about any yellow or brownish discharge after a woman’s period was over.” (Abu Dawood - saheeh by al-Albaani )

So if there’s a gap of at least a day or more in between the time your menses ended and the spotting, then this is your istihaadhah. 

In such a situation, you're 'paak' (pure) as they say and you can fast and pray and everything else you do in your purity. 

Only thing is however, that for every FARDH prayer you have to :

-wash your private parts

- put on a clean pad/ liner

- make fresh wudhu. 

That's ONLY for the FARDH prayer.

Also there’s NO NEED to take a bath. Your wudhu is enough. 

Someone asked Shaikh Ibn Baaz about brown discharge which occurs over five days before the actual menstrual period begins which then lasts for eight days.

Is therefore the prayer and fasting obligatory on this person during the initial five days?

Shaikh bin Baaz said: 

“If the five days in which the brownness occurs are unconnected to the bleeding, then it is not from the menstruation, upon you is to pray within it and fast and you should perform wudhu for every prayer because it is of the ruling of urine, and does not hold the ruling of menses. Therefore it does not prevent one from prayer nor fasting, however it necessitates performing wudhu every time until it ceases – such as irregular (non-menstrual) bleeding.

As for if these five (days) are connected to the menstruation, then it is altogether considered to be from the menstruation, and counted to be from the routine, and upon you is to not pray within them nor to fast.

Likewise if this brown or yellow discharge occurs after the purification from the menses, then it is not considered menses, rather its ruling is the ruling of irregular (non-menstrual) bleeding. 

Upon you is to wash the area each time, and perform wudhu and pray and fast, and it is not considered from the menses.”(Al-Mawsu’ah al-Baaziyyah fee Masaa-il an-Nisaa-iyyah 2/867)

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen was asked:

“If a woman’s normal monthly period is seven or eight days, then it continues once or twice for longer than that, what is the ruling?”

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: 

“If the normal period of this woman is six or seven days, then it becomes longer, lasting for eight, nine, ten or eleven days, then she remains (in menstruation) and she should not pray until she becomes clean. 

This is because the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam did not define any particular number of days for the menstrual cycle. 

And Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala says:

‎• وَيَسْـَٔلُونَكَ عَنِ ٱلْمَحِيضِۖ قُلْ هُوَ أَذًى

“They ask you concerning menstruation. Say that it is an Aḏa (a harmful thing for a husband to have sexual intercourse with his wife while she is having her menses)”
[Al-Baqarah 2:222]

So when this blood continues, the woman continues in that state, until she becomes clean and performs Ghusl and prays. 

And if, in the following month, her period is shorter than that, then she should make Ghusl when she becomes clean, even if it was not of the same number of days as the previous period. 

The important point is, that when a woman has her period, she does not pray, whether the period is the same length as the last one, or it is more or less when she becomes clean, she must pray.”

(Sheikh Ibn Al-‘Uthaymeen, Fatāwā Islāmiyah 2/120-1)

2. That applies to all females who menstruate irrespective of age. 

And Allaah knows best

703. Can I Sell An item Before Taking Possession?

By Asma bint Shameem 

In general, it is not permissible to sell an item before taking possession of it, and moving it from the manufacturer’s/wholesaler’s place, because of the following hadeeth:

Hakeem ibn Hizaam Radhi Allaahu anhu said:

“I asked the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam: 

“O Messenger of Allaah, a man may come to me wanting to buy something that I do not possess, so I sell it to him then I buy it for him from the marketplace.”

He said: 

“Do not sell that which you do not possess.” 

(an-Nasa’i, Abu Dawood, and at-Tirmidhi: saheeh by al-Albani in Saheeh an-Nasa’i)

And Zayd ibn Thabit Radhi Allaahu anhu reported that the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alayhi wa Sallam “forbade selling an item where it was bought until the merchants move it to their own places.”(Ad-Daraqutni and Abu Dawood; hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood)

However, the following are among the permissible and acceptable ways in which the goods can be sold even when the seller does not own them:

1. The seller promises the customer that he will buy the item and take possession of it, then sell it to him. When the seller has bought it and taken possession of it, then he enters into the sale transaction and sends it to the customer.

2. The seller is allowed to act as an agent on behalf of the manufacturer/wholesaler, selling the item on behalf in return for a commission, or act as an agent on behalf of the purchaser, buying the item for him at the usual price, and agreeing with him on a fee in return.

3. Use the Salam transaction (payment in advance), whereby the seller sells the customer an item that is clearly described and defined, in such a way that there can be no cause for dispute, and commits to deliver to him at a specified time, on the condition that he receive the money from the customer when drawing up the contract.

And Allaah knows best.

702. If I Don’t Fast In Ramadhaan Because Of Pregnancy Or Breastfeeding, Should I Make Up The Fast Only OR Feed A Poor Person Only OR Both?

By Asma bint Shameem 

There’s a *vast* difference of opinion among the ulama about this issue. 

- Some said you ONLY need to FAST to make up the days. 

- Some said you should PAY the FIDYAH ONLY (feed one poor person per day of fasting you missed)

- And some said you should do BOTH. 

Ulama like Ibn Baaz and others said:

“The pregnant woman is obliged to fast during her pregnancy, unless she fears that fasting may affect her or her foetus, in which case she is allowed not to fast, and she should *make up the fasts* after she gives birth and becomes pure from nifaas.”

(Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (10/226)

However other ulama like Shaikh Bazmool, Shaikh al-Albaani etc said she does NOT have to make up the fasts. 

Shaikh al-Albaani said regarding this issue:

“It isn’t compulsory for them to make up the days; on the contrary, the feeding of a poor person is. 

This is the correct answer ....

That’s because the Prophet Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam said, “Indeed Allaah has lifted (the obligation) of fasting from the pregnant woman and the one nursing and or suckling.

Thus the conclusion is that it is permissible for every pregnant woman and every woman nursing and/or suckling to break her fast and feed a poor person (for each missed day), and there is no making up of the days, just this (the feeding).” (Fataawa Shaikh al-Albaani)

So here comes the confusion

One group of very trustworthy ulama are telling us to make up the days. 

And another group of *equally* trustworthy ulama telling us we DON’T have to make up the days; rather we just have to feed one poor person per day. 

*So what to do?*

1. IF you’re able to fast *easily* during your pregnancy and/or breastfeeding, you should fast. 

2. If you can’t fast while pregnant or nursing, BUT you ARE ABLE to EASILY make these days up *later*, then it’s BETTER to make them up JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE. 

3. If it’s *difficult* for you to make up the fasts later and/or a LOT of fasts have accumulated for you, then you DO NOT have to make up the days. 

Rather just pay the fidyah and feed one person for each day that you missed. 

And Allaah knows best.