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Understanding the Hadith
Nothing historically has received more scathing attacks from the kuffaar than hadeeth literature, that is, the preserved body of narrations related to the Prophet’s صلى الله عليه وسلم sayings, actions and conduct. Originally, many kuffaar attempted to stir doubt in the genre of hadith literature by spreading dubious lies about the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and highlighting supposedly contradictory ahadeeth. Orientalists then took up the mantle of destroying the credibility of the Prophetic traditions by carrying out extensive research on the wholesale rejection of hadeeth as a historical source. This was initiated by Orientalists such as Goldziher and Schact, an attack that continues to this day at the hands of modern-day Orientalists.
There exist many misunderstandings about the reality of hadeeth even amongst the Muslim Ummah. Amongst some, there is an attitude that the Sunnah is of much less importance than the Qur’an. From this a mentality has emerged disregarding or neglecting legislation (ahkaam) simply because it is not found explicitly in the Qur’an. Unfortunately, many Muslims have criticised the use of ahadeeth (pl. Hadeeth) by using the very same arguments non-Muslims have used against the authenticity of the Sunnah. In 1977 Colonel Gaddafi, ruler of Libya, announced that the ahadeeth mentioned by the tongue of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم are of doubtful authenticity because they were compiled two hundred years after the death of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. He gave an example of a contradiction in the hadeeth by quoting ‘Aisha رضي الله عنها which says, “Aisha رضي الله عنها is deficient in mind and Deen.” He also mentioned another hadith were we read, “Take half your Deen from the mouth of ‘Aisha رضي الله عنها.” Gaddafi concluded that it is not allowed to accept ahadeeth because one cannot be certain whether they are authentic or fabricated. He thus concluded that the Sunnah cannot be taken as a source of legislation.
Historical origins
At the time of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم questions of authenticity were never an issue since the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was living amongst Muslims and his companions were able to correct each other if any mistakes were made in narration. ‘Umar رضي الله عنه once narrated that the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said, “The deceased is punished due to the weeping of his family.” ‘Aisha رضي الله عنها corrected him, saying, “The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said this regarding a Jewess that she was punished whilst her family were crying for her,” meaning that she was punished due to dying upon disbelief (kufr) whilst the family wept and not because the family was weeping for her. Due to their proximity to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, the Sahabah would check strange attributions and reports when they felt doubt.
The earliest record of fabrication of ahadeeth started after the first civil war between Ali رضي الله عنه and Mu’awiya from 35AH following the murder of Uthman رضي الله عنه. According to ibn Sirin (d.110AH), “They did not ask about the isnad (chain of narration) but when civil war (fitna) arose they said: Name to us your men; those who belong to Ahl al-Sunnah, their traditions were accepted and those who were innovators, their traditions were neglected.”
After this time the fabrications increased with varying motivations. Initially the false attributions reflected political differences. According to ibn Abi al-Hadeed: “Lies were introduced in hadeeth on merits originally by Shi’ah. They in the beginning fabricated many ahadeeth in favour of their man, motivated by enmity towards their opponents. When the Bakriyya (i.e. supporters of Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه) found out what the Shi’ah had done they fabricated on their part ahadeeth in favour of their man.”
From this problem arose the challenge to authenticate and verify the narrations being attributed to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. There were thousands of transmitters of ahadeeth scattered throughout the Islamic lands and an even greater number of reports to sift through. What was required was for the sound narrations to be separated from the weak and then to be compiled. This was all in the days when the best form of data storage was the human memory.
Understanding the Hadeeth methodology
The essential argument for the rejection of ahadeeth is that they were a human construct and not revelation. The discussion of the Shari’ah begins with its sources, which in origin is the Qur’an. The other legislative source is the recorded sayings, actions and conduct of the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم which are termed ahadeeth. The ahadeeth are a collection of around 600,000 authenticated narrations comprised of the sayings, actions and consent of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم. A hadeeth is always composed of two parts: the matn (text) and the isnaad (chain of reporters).
When one wants to authenticate any incident or statement one would look at those people narrating the incident and then look at their characters. It was out of this need that an entire science, known as ‘ilm al-rijaal (knowledge of the men who transmitted ahadeeth) emerged and this science evolved into an extremely sophisticated discipline. This is because if one is characterised with lying, sin or memory loss, one cannot be considered trustworthy. One can also examine how close the narrators were to a reported incident in terms of whether they actually witnessed it or spoke to another person who narrated the event. This would require the specialist in hadeeth and the scholars of Islam to check accounts of a given narrators memory, eyesight, tendency to exaggerate etc. If the people narrating the event were small in number, then it must be asked if they could have colluded in their accounts. If the opposite were the case and the numbers of trustworthy individuals relating a similar account unknown to the others incredibly numerous, the possibility of collusion diminishes accordingly.
Since each narrator related narrations to others, and so on, chains of narrators develop and we must then examine the chains themselves as well as those within the chain. A tawaatur narration (a narration confirmed generation to generation) is a hadeeth which has been transmitted from one generation to another with each generation being composed of individuals so numerous that the possibility of fabrication or lying is effectively non-existent. It would be similar to taking into account the numerous different narrations from various generations and still claiming the Second World War never took place.
The chain of narration (isnaad) and its study is where the muhaditheen (scholars who collected and categorised ahadeeth) establish the continuity of the chain of narrators i.e. they ensure that there were no gaps, inconsistencies, distortions or errors in the chain. This was achieved by cataloguing the dates of birth and death of narrators and the towns they came from in order to establish the possibility that they had met and hence were actually able to transmit ahadeeth to one another.
The second issue that had to be ascertained was the probity or mendacity of transmitters. It is not sufficient to verify an unbroken continuous chain if even one of the transmitters was known to be of unsound character. Like any chain, all that is necessary for the whole sequence to collapse is simply one weak link that would allow it to fall apart quickly and easily. So one weak link, or in the case of hadeeth literation, a liar in the chain, will weaken or nullify the report respectively even if the rest of the chain features illustrious and trustworthy transmitters. It is for this reason that the Muslims at the time gathered information about the narrators (‘ilm al-rijaal) which was a colossal accomplishment since it involved assessing the character, reputation and state of mind of thousands upon thousands of transmitters. This repository of biographical material would then be used to identify each and every transmitter in the chain to ensure a valid link back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. It is as a result of this that the genre of biographical dictionaries emerged, a genre that went on to become one of the pillars of hadeeth classification with countless books being compiled on this subject. After the study of the chains the ahadeeth were classified into strong (sahih), good/sound (hasan), not sound (da’eef) and fabricated or spurious (maw-doo‘). The ahadeeth came to be further categorised into topics such as purity, prayer, charity, partnership, marriage, trade, taxation, brokerage, ruling and deputation, amongst many others. This now meant that legislation could be deduced from this basis from the Sunnah, and Muslims have been doing this for the last fourteen centuries.
The ahadeeth is confirmed as a source of law by the Qur’an itself,
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللّهَ
“He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed God.” [TMQ An-Nisa: 80]
This method became the method of verifying what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did and said. This is why the science of ahadeeth developed and became a whole discipline itself. Thus a valid hadith is one whose chain is continuous by trustworthy and meticulous transmitters whose reports contained no abnormality or defects. Thus, the conditions in this definition can be listed as the following:
1. Ittisaal as-Sanad (continuity of the chain)
2. ‘Adaalatu Al-Ruwwaah (probity or trustworthiness of narrators)
3. DabT Al-Ruwaah (The precision and accuracy of narrators)
4. The absence of conflict with stronger narrationsDetecting forgery
A wide variety of techniques were developed to detect forgery and deception. There are techniques related to the sanad (chain) and also techniques relating to the matn (text). Such techniques were many in number and are beyond the scope of this article; two such techniques are reconciling facts with narrations and mukhtalaf al-Hadeeth, reconciling seemingly contradictory hadith.
An example of reconciling facts with narrations through textual analysis is the one quoted by ibn Qayyim in his work, Naqd al-Manqool. He quotes a report which says that an agreement was made with the people of Khaybar that exempted them from the payment of Jizyah. This report was declared a fabrication due to the following indications in the Matn:
The text mentions Sa’d bin Mu’aadh رضي الله عنه but Sa’d had died before then in the Battle of Ahzab.
It mentions that Mu’aawiyah wrote the letter but Mu’aawiyah had not embraced Islam until the Conquest of Makkah which occurred after this incident.
The hadeeth mentioned Jizyah but the verses (aayaat) legalising Jizyah were not revealed until after the Battle of Tabuk.
Its text mentions that certain types of taxes were levied but these were known not to exist at the time of Khaybar.
The Jews of Khaybar fought the Messenger (saws) and his Companions. What did they do to deserve being granted such an exemption from the obligation of Jizyah, when other tribes equally bellicose had not been exempted?
Had the Prophet (saws) exempted the people of Khaybar from the Jizyah, he would not have stipulated that they be expelled when he صلى الله عليه وسلم willed. This does not fit with the ruling that the Ahl al-Dhimmah cannot be expelled as long as they abide by the rules of Islam.
If the Prophet had exempted them, why did none of his companions, the Sahaabah, ever exempt them?
In this way, established facts were utilised to ascertain the validity of the content in the various ahadeeth.
When presented with two sets of contradictory hadith, one of three options is possible. Either one can resort to reconciliation of the hadeeth by considering a whole host of issues such as textual indication or, if this is not possible, then the outweighing (tarjeeh) of one report over the other if the chronology is not known and finally, accepting abrogation if the chronology is known.
Thus, the means of removing conflicts are three:
a) Jam’ a (reconciliation)
b) Tarjeeh (outweighing if the chronology is not known)
c) Naskh (abrogation if chronology is known)
d) If none of the above methods are possible, then the muhadditheen revert back to the original rule and assume the contradictory texts are non-existent.The process of reconciliation succeeds by attempting to reconcile two conflicting texts due to certain linguistic and circumstantial considerations. Here, the textual indications can assist in the reconciliation between two texts. For example, in one hadeeth, we read, “Water is pure so nothing can make it impure.” (Abu Dawud). In another, we read, “If the water is enough to fill two pots (qullatayn), it carries no impurity.” (An-Nasaa`ee) The first text is ‘Aam (general) for all amounts of water except the wording of the second text indicates that water can become impure if its nature is changed. This is a specification (takhsees) of the first text by the meaning of the second.
Tarjeeh (outweighing) can occur in a number of ways; one such way is if one of the conflicting hadeeth accords with another authentic hadith. For example, one hadeeth reads, “There is no nikaah (marriage) without a wali (guardian).” (Abu Dawud) This hadeeth stipulates the presence of a wali but it seems to contradict another hadeeth which indicates that the wali is not stipulated. That hadith is as follows, “The matron has greater right than her guardians and the virgin her permission is sought. Her permission is her silence.” (Saheeh Muslim) Yet the first hadith stipulating the presence of the wali agrees with another sound narration which says, “Any woman who gets married without the permission of her guardian (Wali), her marriage will be void, her marriage will be void, her marriage will be void.” (al-Haakim) Therefore, the tarjeeh here will be that the hadeeth which says that there is no nikaah without a wali is outweighed and accepted because it is supported by another authentic narration.
As for abrogation, this happens when it is not possible to reconcile a hadeeth but abrogation is possible because the chronology is known. For example, one hadeeth reads, “The one who cups blood and is cupped has broken his fast” whereas another hadeeth reads, “…that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was cupped while he was fasting.” If we scrutinize the circumstances of these ahadeeth, we find that first hadeeth took place in the 8th year after Hijrah during the Conquest of Makkah while the second hadeeth is in the Farewell Khutbah in the 10th year after Hijrah. Thus, Imaam Ash-Shaafi’ee رضي الله عنه took the view that the second hadeeth had abrogated the first, allowing the cupping of blood while fasting in Ramadaan.
The Muslim scholars and experts were able to amass a database of thousands of narrators, define rigorous criteria to assess authenticity, classify and adopt a grading system for chain narrators, devise techniques to detect and avert mistakes and fabrications and adopt a methodology to reconcile the differences within certain texts. The result was the remarkably robust and effective preservation of the Islamic ideology and its legislative capacity.
If we compare the system of hadeeth collection (Isnaad) to the modern system of historical analysis, we will find the former to be much more sophisticated and successful in establishing the authenticity of historical incidents and events. What the Muslims called a da’eef hadith is perhaps stronger in historicity, in some of its forms, than modern sources such as history textbooks, numismatics or historical criticism of literary texts. This is because da’eef does not mean fabrication but simple that it does not satisfy the stringent criteria developed by the muhadditheen.
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Holding onto the Islamic personality in the 21st century
Muslims since the dawn of Islam have faced numerous challenges in holding onto Islam. The early Muslims faced persecution and death if they refused to accept the pagan beliefs of the Quraish. The death of Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم resulted in a number of people turning their backs on Islam and stirring doubt in the minds of other Muslims. As Islam spread and Muslims came into contact with other cultures and customs Muslims faced the challenge of ensuring the purity of Islam and reconciling Islam with the foreign beliefs of other people.
Today a similar battle continues, that of wining the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world and integrating Muslims living in the West into Western societies. Successive governments have outlined policies on integrating Muslims in the West and a number of areas have been highlighted in order to achieve this, in summary these include:
– Promoting the superiority of Capitalism, its institutions, systems, freedoms and civilisation
– Abandoning policies which concentrate on cultural differences (such as multiculturalism) and concentrating on shared values (capitalist values)
– Promoting people and organisations who view Islam in line with liberal values
– Subverting all those who call for political Islam by branding them as extremists
– Corrupting those ideas of Islam which are political and anti-liberal such as one Ummah, Islamic state, Shari’ah, Islam is a system and Islam’s applicability in the 21st century
– Branding those who hold onto Islam as backward and traditionalists
For Muslims, holding onto the Islamic personality in the 21st century has become even more important as there is a campaign to corrupt the Islamic personality and to secularise it which means Muslims will view the world from the lens of capitalism rather then Islam. So the question needs to be asked, what is the Islamic personality? How do we build it? How to we maintain and develop it? And how do we ensure it does not become corrupted?
The personality
Various thinkers throughout history have attempted to define the personality similar to the attempts to define the mind and the soul. In Ancient Greece, Socrates his student Plato, and his student Aristotle, attempted to answer the question of what is the personality. Their conclusions were very vague and included elements which were not part of the human makeup and also for them included a combination of one’s clothing, speech, tastes etc.
The Muslim philosophers of the 10th century attempted to define the personality, as well as scholars such as Imam Ghazali, and they all mentioned in their respective books the different traits which can constitute the personality.
The Christians defined the personality as the struggle that occurs internally between matter and spirit. With the development of science in the 18th century experiments were carried out on human beings that lead to the study of human nature turning eventually into psychology which became the study of human behaviour. Today psychologists continue to add to the body of research on what constitutes the personality which includes one’s traits, genetics and actions.
Communists also had a view on the personality and for them it was nothing more then the reflection of the reality on the mind.
Because the personality is the study of the human then its definition should be perceived from reality and should be applicable on all humans. This is because humans in all times and generations do not change in nature, the human make up, aside from some people born with deformities, humans generally are the same. So we see all people have physical characteristics that usually distinguish them from others. Although the colour of one’s eyes, earrings, hair style, clothing, the type of books they read and how much skin they may expose are what we see of other people, these are in reality the result of one’s personality. This is because such characteristics would be decided by the beliefs and ideas one carries.
Hence the first part that defines a person is the ideas they carry, in this way matters are judged as good and bad, right and wrong. The second aspect of the personality is one’s behaviour. Although all humans have the same instincts we see that people satisfy them differently. We see although all humans have the procreational instinct, some marry, others do not, whilst some marry the same gender. One’s behaviour is the manner in which one satisfies their different instincts and this is what distinguishes one person from another.
The way one thinks and behaves defines the type of personality one has. One’s behaviour is determined by the ideas one carries hence the one who views drinking alcohol as good would act upon this compared to the one who views it as wrong. So one’s ideas would determine one’s behaviour and this is why one’s beliefs are central to defining the personality.
The Islamic personality
Islam has provided a comprehensive solution for Muslims to create for themselves a particular personality distinct from all others. With the Islamic ‘Aqeedah (creed) Islam treated thoughts of all Muslims by making for humans an intellectual basis upon which all thoughts can be built. So a Muslim’s mentality is built upon the Islamic ‘Aqeedah which provides one with a distinct mentality.
At the same time, Islam treats human actions which stem from there instincts and organic needs with Shari’ah rules that emanate from the ‘Aqeedah itself. The Shari’ah rules regulate but do not suppress the human instincts. They harmonise the different instincts together but do not leave them free to be satisfied in any manner. The Shari’ah rules do permit Muslims to satisfy their needs in a way that will lead the human being to tranquillity and stability.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the Qur’an mentioned in a number of ayaat the traits Muslims should be characterised with, amongst the many ayaat the following outlines this very clearly:
وَعِبَادُ الرَّحْمَنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الأرْضِ هَوْنًا وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلامًا (٦٣)
وَالَّذِينَ يَبِيتُونَ لِرَبِّهِمْ سُجَّدًا وَقِيَامًا (٦٤)
وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا اصْرِفْ عَنَّا عَذَابَ جَهَنَّمَ إِنَّ عَذَابَهَا كَانَ غَرَامًا (٦٥)
إِنَّهَا سَاءَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا (٦٦)
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا أَنْفَقُوا لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ قَوَامًا (٦٧)
وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلا بِالْحَقِّ وَلا يَزْنُونَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (٦٨)
يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (٦٩)
إِلا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا (٧٠)
وَمَنْ تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا فَإِنَّهُ يَتُوبُ إِلَى اللَّهِ مَتَابًا (٧١)
وَالَّذِينَ لا يَشْهَدُونَ الزُّورَ وَإِذَا مَرُّوا بِاللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا كِرَامًا (٧٢)
وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا بِآيَاتِ رَبِّهِمْ لَمْ يَخِرُّوا عَلَيْهَا صُمًّا وَعُمْيَانًا (٧٣)
وَالَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا هَبْ لَنَا مِنْ أَزْوَاجِنَا وَذُرِّيَّاتِنَا قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا (٧٤)
أُولَئِكَ يُجْزَوْنَ الْغُرْفَةَ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلامًا (٧٥)
خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا (٧٦)
“And the servants of (Allah) most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in humility, and when the ignorant (people) address them, they say, Peace! Those who spend the night in adoration of their Lord prostrating and standing. Those who say, Our Lord! Avert from us the Wrath of Hell, for its Wrath is indeed an affliction grievous; Evil indeed is it as an abode, and as a place to rest in; Those who, when they spend, are not extravagant and not niggardly, but hold just (balance) between those (extremes); Those who invoke not, with Allah, any other god, nor slay such life as Allah has made sacred, except for just cause, nor commit fornication, and any that does this (not only) meets punishment; (But) the Penalty on the Day of Judgment will be doubled to him, and he will dwell therein in disgrace; Unless he repents, believes, and works righteous deeds, for Allah is oft-forgiving, most merciful; And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah with an (acceptable) conversion; Those who witness no falsehood, and, if they pass by futility, they pass by it with honourable (avoidance); Those who, when they are admonished with the Signs of their Lord, droop not down at them as if they were deaf or blind; And those who pray; Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous; Those are the ones who will be rewarded with the highest place in heaven, because of their patient constancy; therein shall they be met with salutation and peace; Dwelling therein, how beautiful an abode and place of rest!” [Al-Furqan: 63-76]
This verse represents a complete whole that elucidates the different virtues, the Muslim character and demonstrates the Islamic personality.
Common misconceptions
There are a number of misconceptions that exist amongst Muslims in regards to the Islamic personality. Some believe the individual with a beard and who wears the Islamic dress with the Islamic hat is an Islamic personality. Some believe it’s impossible to be completely Islamic as we can never be like angels.
Such misconceptions only exist because what constitutes the Islamic personality has become blurred in the minds of the Muslims. So those who envisage that only an angel can have an Islamic personality are making a serious misjudgement. The resultant damage they cause to society is enormous, because they look for angelic figures from amongst the people and never find them because they cannot find such a person even amongst themselves. Thus they despair and give up all hope in Muslims. Such thinking helps promote the idea that Islam is utopian, impossible to implement, and is composed of supreme ideals and standards that humans cannot implement or maintain. Many people as a result turn away from Islam or accept their weakness and turn away from implementing Islam completely in their lives because they are rendered too paralysed to act.
Islam was not revealed to the angels, rather to the imperfect humans. Hence Islam recognises that from time to time a Muslim may fall short of his or her adherence to Islam. However this in no way justifies not using Islam as a basis. Islam is realistic and it deals with the realities humans face.
When Islam mentions the pious mumin, it mentions this in the context of the level of the ideal Islamic personality. Those who fall below this are not rendered un-Islamic. Thus the common Muslims who are below this level and who act in accordance with Islam, or those who confine themselves to performing the Fard (compulsory) actions and abstain from performing the Haram (prohibited) are Islamic personalities.
An individual who has a beard, wears the jilbiyah and comes across as pious is not necessarily an Islamic personality. This is because the traits of a Muslim are not the determining factor in deciding one’s personality. What decides one’s personality in being Islamic is if they have adopted the Islamic Aqeedah as a basis for their views and inclinations. Hence an individual could actually have very little knowledge on Islam but because he always refers to Islam to find the ruling for his actions this would make him an Islamic personality. The type of clothing one wears, their piety and smile indicate that this person does actions which Islam promotes but they in no way prove that the person holds the Islamic Aqeedah as a basis for such actions.
Strengthening the personality
Islam demanded the performing of actions beyond the Fard actions and demanded the avoiding of actions beyond the Haram (forbidden actions) to strengthen one’s behaviour. This ensures ones inclinations are capable of deterring any inclination incompatible with Islam. All this is intended to enhance the Islamic personality and set it on the path towards a sublime pinnacle.
However the types of personalities among the people will vary in their degree and strength. What matters in judging whether someone holds an Islamic personality or not is whether he or she takes Islam as the standard for their thinking and inclinations. It is on this basis that the Islamic personality, mentality and behaviour are defined and characterized.
Constant observation of building one’s thoughts and inclinations on the basis of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah must be maintained at every moment in life for the individual to remain an Islamic personality. After the initial formation of the personality, work is focused on maintaining it by developing the mentality and the inclinations. The inclinations are developed through worshipping the Creator and drawing closer to Him by doing acts of obedience, and by constantly building every desire for anything on the Islamic ‘Aqeedah. Development of one’s thinking is achieved by understanding the Islamic Aqeedah and then by understanding and comprehending all its results i.e. the ahadith, tafseer, fiqh and all the other disciplines.
Those who Commit sins
Many Muslims perform actions incompatible with Islam and many Islamic personalities sometimes display behaviour contradicting Islam. One may think such actions and behaviour are clearly incompatible with Islam and ostracise the person in question from Islam, and would therefore render him or her non-Islamic or even Kafir on some occasions.
A person is not ostracised from Islam unless they abandon the Islamic ‘Aqeedah either by speech or action. One is not divested of their personality unless they no longer take it as the basis for thoughts and inclinations. This is because humans are liable to have discrepancies in their actions – they are not infallible. However if one consistently contradicts Islam then this would bring into question what he takes as a basis. In the situation where one consistently contradicts Islam this is evidence that the person does not take Islam as a basis, however a lapse, which usually takes the form of individual discrepancies, this proves ones weakness but does not mean someone is no longer an Islamic personality.
What needs to be kept in mind is that the associating of thoughts with actions is not a mechanical process where concepts always function in line with ones ‘Aqeedah. It is a social process that can be separated from the ‘Aqeedah or re-associated with it. Hence Muslims will from time to time be disobedient and violate the commands and prohibitions of Allah سبحانه وتعالى in one of their actions. This can be for a number of reasons:
– A person might imagine that it was in his interest to do what he did but then repents and comprehends the error of what he has done.
– A person may occasionally fail to link his concepts to his ‘Aqeedah, because he was reactionary or emotional
– A person may be ignorant of the contradiction between any concepts alien to Islam and his ‘Aqeedah
– Ones heart may be influenced by Satan, causing him to distance himself from his ‘Aqeedah in one of his actions.
A violation of Allah سبحانه وتعالى’s commands and prohibitions does not on its own take someone outside the fold of Islam. A disobedient person or a Faasiq (sinner) is not considered Murtad (apostate), but disobedient in the act in which he was disobedient. A person remains a Muslim as long as they embrace the Islamic ‘Aqeedah of Islam. In the instance that the Muslim commits the action of disobedience it should not be said he is a non-Islamic personality, as long as his adoption of the Islamic ‘Aqeedah as a basis for his thoughts and inclinations is intact and free of doubt.
The Sahabah (companions of the Prophet) were involved in various incidents during the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم when a companion would violate a command or prohibition. Such violations did not remove the Sahabah from the fold of Islam, nor did they compromise his Islamic personality. This is because they were humans not angels. They are just like all other people and they are not infallible because they are not Prophets.
For example, Hatib ibn Abi Balta’ah رضي الله عنه conveyed to the Quraish of Makkah news of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم’s intention to invade them, although the Prophet was careful to maintain the secrecy of the invasion.
The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم twisted the head of Al-Fdl Ibn Al-‘Abbas when he saw him staring with lust and desire at a woman talking to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
In the year of the Conquest of Makkah, the Ansar spoke about the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and claimed he had abandoned them and returned to his kinsfolk despite his vow not to do so.
The senior Sahabah fled the war at Hunain and left the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم alone with few companions.
These are just a few incidents which the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم never considered as undermining the Islam of the instigators or as a stain upon the personality of the Sahabah concerned. The criterion for judging whether a Muslim holds an Islamic personality is the soundness of his Islamic ‘Aqeedah and the building of his thoughts and inclinations upon it. As long as this occurs the occasional gaps in conduct will not compromise his Islamic personality.
Today’s Struggle
It is of utmost importance to build the Islamic aqeedah soundly and correctly as the rest of Islam is built upon this. Any shortcomings in understanding the Islamic aqeedah will result in one compromising Islam and leave one open to adopting from other then Islam. Embracing the Islamic ‘Aqeedah means belief in the entirety of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم’s message, and those detailed matters whose evidence is beyond doubt; and the acceptance of all this must be matched with contentment and submission. Mere knowledge is insufficient and refusal to accept even the most minor of matters definitely proven to be part of Islam ostracises the person and detaches him from the ‘Aqeedah. Islam is an indivisible whole as far as belief and acceptance is concerned and relinquishing even a fraction of it is Kufr (disbelief). Hence belief in the separation of the Islamic Deen from life’s affairs (secularism) is indisputably Kufr.
Muslims in the West are on the receiving end of a barrage of propaganda against Islam and their non-adherence to Islam effectively places the victory in the hands of the West before the struggle and debate begins. Similar to this are all those who view the Islamic personality as spiritual only, abandoning the worldly life due to its corruption and remaining silent in the face of the propaganda directed at Islam.
Adherence to Islam apart from being compulsory has a number of profound effects.
Adherence to Islam shows to the wider Muslims that Islam can be easily followed and does provide solutions to the various problems humans face.
Adherence also shows to non-Muslims that Muslims have values which are eroding in the West such as looking after elders, treatment of women, respectable youth and the fact Islam represents a value system which people in the West should aspire to.
Holding onto Islam after building the Islamic aqeedah correctly, soundly and rationally will ensure the purity of one’s personality and in today’s climate is even more critical due to the propaganda directed at it.
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Israel will be destroyed & Jerusalem will become the capital of the Khilafah
n these difficult times we must not get defeated, have vision and work to achieve that vision. Israel will be defeated in the future and Jerusalem will become the capital of the Islamic Khilafah inshallah. The following are evidences from the Quran and ahadith for this:
Allah (swt) States: “And we decreed for the Children of Israel in the Scripture, that indeed you would do mischief on the earth twiceand you will become tyrants and extremely arrogant! So, when the promise came for the first of the two, We sent against you slaves of Ours given to terrible warfare. They entered the very innermost parts of your homes. And it was a promise (completely) fulfilled. Then We gave you once again, a return of victory over them. And We helped you with wealth and children and made you more numerous in manpower. (And We said): ‘If you do well, you do good for your ownselves, and if you do evil (you do it) against yourselves’. Then, when the second promise came to pass, (We permitted your enemies) to make your faces sorrowful and to enter the mosque (of Jerusalem) as they had entered it before, and to destroy with utter destruction all that fell in their hands. [And We Said in the Taurat (Torah)]: ‘It may be that your Lord may show mercy unto you, but if you return (to sins), We shall return (to Our Punishment). And We have made Hell a prison for the disbelievers” [TMQ Al-Isra, 17:4-8]
The indication in this verse that the second promise of Allah (swt) which will come to pass refers to the destruction of Israel is where it says, “to make your faces sorrowful and to enter the mosque (of Jerusalem) as they had entered it before”. The Muslims opened Jerusalem to Islam under the rule of the second Khalifah Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra), the Islamic state ruled it with justice for hundreds of years. Even though it was captured by the Crusader Christians for a number of years it was never captured by the Jews previous to the formation of the state of Israel. So Allah (swt) promises that we will enter the mosque of Masjid al-Aqsa in Jerusalem as we entered it before when we conquered it.
Narrated by Ibn ‘Asaakir, from Maseerah b. Jaleese, where he heard the Prophet (saw): “This matter (the Khilafah) will continue after me in Al-Madina, then (move to) Al-Shaam, then to the peninsula, then to Iraq, then to the city, then to Bait-ul-Maqdis. So if it reaches Bait-ul-Maqdis, then it would have reached its (natural resting place); and no people who remove it (i.e. the capital of the Khilafah) from their land will ever get it back again (for them to be the capital again).” The scholars said they believe that what he (saw) meant by ‘the city’ is the city of Heraclius (Constantinople). This hadith is talking about which cities would become the capital of the Khilafah, all the cities mentioned have been the capitals of the Khilafah in the past except Bait ul-Maqdis (Jerusalem). This will be our capital sometime in the future inshallah.
In addition there are others from Ibn ‘Asaakir, from Abdul Rahman b. Abi ‘Umayrah Al-Muzni, who said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw): “There will be, in Bait-ul-Maqdis, a (rightly guided) Bay’a.”
These include narrations by Al-Haakim, which have been classified as Sahih. Of these is the narration from Abi Shareeh: “…I have heard those who say that they will be twelve banners, and under each banner twelve thousand (men), and the Muslims will gather to their comrade (or Imam) in Bait-ul-Maqdis (Al-Quds).”
It was narrated by Ibn Habban in his book of Sahih Ahadith, that Al-Shaam (the region which covers Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon and part of Iraq) will be the base of the land of the believers at the end of time. On the authority of Al-Nawas b. Sam’aan, who said that he heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say, “…and the ‘Uqr (natural origin) of the land of the believers is Al-Shaam.”
It was also narrated by Ahmad from the hadith by Salamah b. Nufayl, “…verily, the ‘Uqr of the land of the believers is Al-Shaam…”
Furthermore, it was narrated by Al-Tabarani, in ‘Al-Kabeer,’ on the authority of Salamah b. Nufayl: “The ‘Uqr of Dar Al-Islam is in Al-Shaam.” According to Al-Haythami, this was narrated by Al-Tabarani, and his men (chain of narration) are trustworthy.
This hadith was narrated by 5 Tabi’ Tabi’een, from two Tabi’een, from 2 of the Sahaba. Due to the nature of the definite truthfulness of the speaker (the Messenger of Allah (saw)), this hadith is with regards to the second ‘Uqr of Dar Al-Islam, and not the ‘Uqr of the first, for the meaning of the ‘Uqr of the land is its centre and origin, and the ‘Uqr of the first Islamic State was in Al-Madina Al-Munawwarah; therefore, this means that what is meant here is the ‘Uqr of the second Islamic State.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud in ‘Al-Sunan’, on the authority of Abdullah b. ‘Amr (ra): “There will be a Hijrah after a Hijrah, so the best people on earth are those who keep to the (land of the) Hijrah of Ibrahim (i.e. Al-Shaam).”
This Hadith was also narrated by Al-Haakim, who said that it is Sahih according to the conditions of the two Shaykhs, and they have not narrated it. On the authority of Musa b. Ali b. Rabah, who said: I heard my father say: ‘…Abu Hurairah said, I was told by Abdullah b. ‘Amr b. Al-‘Aas (ra): I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say…’ and he mentioned the hadith. It was also narrated by Ahmad in his Musnad, on the authority of Abdullah b. ‘Amr, and said: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) say…’ and he mentioned the hadith.
This hadith was narrated by at least five Tabi’ Tabi’een, from three Tabi’een, from two Sahaba. It indicates that there will be a Hijrah (emigration) to Al-Shaam after the Hijrah to Al-Madina. The purpose of Hijrah is to leave Dar Al-Kufr (land ruled by Kufr) and to emigrate to Dar Al-Islam (land ruled by Islam). The first emigration was to Al-Madina, and the second emigration will be to Al-Shaam. This understanding supports the hadith regarding the ‘Uqr of Dar Al-Islam.
It was narrated by Abu Dawud, on the authority of Ibn Zughb Al-Ayadi, who said that Ali Abdullah b. Hawalah Al-Azdi came to him and said: “The Messenger of Allah (saw) sent us to seek booty on foot, so we returned and did not find anything, and he (saw) could see the exhaustion in our faces, so he stood up and said: ‘Oh Allah, do not leave them for me, where I would be too weak for them, and do not leave them to themselves, where they would be too weak for themselves, and do not leave them for the people, where they would keep (the good) from them, keeping it for themselves.’ Then he (saw) placed his hand on my head…” (or he said: “…on my forehead): ‘Oh, Ibn Hawalah, if you see that the Khilafah has come to the sacred land (Al-Quds), then the earthquakes, the troubles, and the great happenings have come, and the hour on that day is nearer to the people than my hand here on your head.’”
Al-Haakim also narrated this hadith on the authority of Ibn Zughb Al-Ibaadi. He declared that this hadith has an authentic chain of narrators, and it was not narrated by the two Shaykhs. Ahmad narrated it with the same Isnad (chain of narrators) as Al-Haakim. If Ibn Zughb is Abdullah, then he is one of the Sahaba, and if he is Abdul-Rahman, then he is one of the Tabi’een. Therefore, this hadith was narrated by two Sahaba if he is the first (Abdullah), or one of the Sahaba if he is the second (Abdul-Rahman); and one of the Tabi’een if he is the first, or two of the Tabi’een if he is the second; and three Tabi’ Tabi’een in both cases.
This hadith indicates that the Khilafah will come to the land of Al-Quds. It cannot be said that the Khilafah came to it during the Khilafah of ‘Umar (ra), because the earthquakes, troubles and tumultuous events did not come at that time. This means that there will be a second coming of the Khilafah in which these events will follow.
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Fiqh of Growing and Shaving the Beard
This issue has turned lately into a major talking point among muslims. Some people have gone as far as accusing those who do not grow their beards and do not trim the moustache of unbelief or rebellion. The evidences they used to back such claims are, however, not strong enough to justify such accusations.
The issue itself has been debated before by some dignified scholars; differences have also emerged in the past among the various schools of thought. This issue is classified by the shariah as being one of the Furoo’ (branches) of the deen in which differences of opinion are permitted, unlike the usool (basis) of the deen.
In order to clarify the Islamic verdict on this issue, we need first to explore all the matters related to it and what our respected scholars have said about it.
The beard is a natural, physical aspect of man. Growing it is a practice that man took up long before Islam and still continues to do so after Islam has come. It is part of the fitra (natural) characteristics which Allah (swt) gifted men with. Fitra here means the inner sense of cleanliness in a man which is a proof of his moral and mental state. Other characteristics of fitra are stated in the following hadith of the Messenger of Allah (saaws),
“Ten are the acts of fitra: trimming the moustache, letting the beard grow, siwak (using the tooth stick), snuffing the water in the nose, cutting the nails, washing the finger joints, plucking the hair under the armpits, shaving pubic hair, cleaning one’s private parts with water and rinsing the mouth.” [TMH (translation of the meaning of the hadith)]
Imam Shawkhani said in his book Nayl Al-Awtar, “What he (saaws) means by fitra is that if these characteristics are followed by a man, he would be described as a man of fitra, which Allah (swt) has gifted his servants with and encouraged them to follow so that they attain a high degree of respectability and dignity.”
As for the Islamic verdict on the beard, this has produced three Islamic opinions:
1) Growing the beard is an obligation and shaving it is forbidden. This opinion is championed by Ibn Hazm and Ibn Taimiya among others.
2) Growing the beard in mandub (desirable) and shaving it is makruh (undesirable). This opinion is championed by Ibn Hanbal, Ibn Qudamah, Imam Shirazi, Imam Shawkhani, Imam Nawawi and Qadi (judge) Iyad among others.
3) Growing and shaving the beard is mubah (permitted), which is the opinion of Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arbi and Imam Qurtabi.
For the first opinion scholars have referred to the following evidences to back their claim.
a. Messenger of Allah’s saying,
“Trim closely the moustache and grow the beard and thus act different from the fire-worshippers.”
b. Allah’s Messenger’s saying,
“Act different from the polytheists. Trim closely the moustache and grow the beard.”
c. The Messenger of Allah’s saying,
“Let the beard grow and trim the moustache and do not imitate the Jews and Christians and dye your grey hair.”
d. The Messenger of Allah’s saying,
“In our deen, we trim the moustache and let the beard grow.”
f. The Messenger of Allah’s saying,
“Whoever imitated some people he became one of them.” This hadith has been narrated by Abu Da’ud on the authority of Ibn Omar.
These ahadith do not mean that acting differently from the Jews and Christians is the reason for having the beard. If this was the case then we would be ordered to shave. Since, the Jews and the Christians are praying with their shoes and are growing beards.
These ahadith contain many instructions not necessarily related to each other such as:
1. Growing beard.
2. Trimming the moustache.
3. Acting differently from the kuffar.
4. Dying the hair. Qadi Iyad said, “The sahabah and those who followed them had their differences over the issue of khidab (dyeing) and it origin, some said that it best to leave it.”
Imam At-Tabari said, “The ordering and forbidding related to this issue (dyeing) was not meant as an obligation, that is why people did not blame or criticize one another.”
Ibn ul-Jawzi said, “A group of the sahabah and some of those who followed them did not dye their hair.”
Imam Nawawi said in Al-Majmou’, “Our opinion is the desirability of dyeing grey hair for men and women.”
In Al-Mughni, Imam Ibn Qudamah said, “It is desirable to dye the grey hair with a color other than black.”
All this demonstrates clearly that some of the Sahabah did not dye their hair despite the fact that it would have been acting differently to the Jews and Christians, and so many scholars stated that the dyeing of the hair is mandub.
As for hadith (d), it does not convey the obligation nor even the desirability, it only carries a request. Distinguished scholars recognize that not every order carries an obligation but every order carries a request. For the order to become an obligation it has to be linked to some sort of punishment or reward. So many ayahs (verses) of the Glorious Quran and many sayings of the Prophet (saaws) have taken a similar line. The meaning of the order could be either real or figurative or just a request. It does not carry an obligation unless indicated.
When Allah (swt) indicated in the Quran, “But when you have left the sacred territory, go hunting.” [5:2] or, “And when the prayer is ended, then disperse.” [62:10] And, “Eat of the things which Allah has provided for you.” [5:88] Or, “Wear your beautiful apparel at every time and place of prayer.” [7:31]
Or when the Messenger of Allah said, “We have been ordered to make tasbeeh after prayers” or when he said, “Marry and have children, I shall be proud of you before other nations on the day of judgment” these ayah and hadith have all come in the imperative tenses, but do not necessarily carry the obligation for there are no indications for that. They merely mean a request. The indication needed to make it obligatory is a warning against punishment or a promise from Allah (swt) of reward or forgiveness. So the issues of hunting, eating, dressing up, tasbeeh, perfecting the wudu’ and marriage, which all come in the ayahs and ahadith as orders, have not been defined by scholars as obligatory because there were no indications linked to that.
When Allah’s Messenger said, “My Lord has ordered me to let my beard grow”, this does not carry an obligation but merely a request; besides, actions of the Messenger of Allah are either natural, like how he used to blink his eye or move his lips etc; or special actions particular to him which no one else is allowed to perform like marrying more than four wives at the same time, or to fast continuously. There are also other actions which Allah (swt) has made compulsory on his messenger but mandub for his ummah, like staying up in the night, witr and duha prayers.
As for other actions, muslims are to abide by them whether they are wajib or mandub, and to keep away from the makruh and the haram, and to perform or leave the mubah (permitted).
The hadith (e), in which the Messenger of Allah says, “In our deen, we trim the moustache and we let the beard grow,” does not imply the obligation because in our deen, there is wajib, mandub, makruh, haram and mubah. In this hadith it may mean Fardh, Haram, mandub or Mubah.
As for hadith (f), imitating the unbelievers in a certain action means acting like them with the intention of imitating them. If a Muslim intends to imitate the unbelievers by not growing his beard and by not trimming the moustache, then he becomes sinful but if he does not grow his beard for no other reason then just a habit or because he wishes not to then he is not considered to be sinful. Nowadays we see that many unbelievers are letting their beards grow. So do we say that we have to stop growing our beards because we must not imitate them?
Some people say that the trimming of the moustache is an obligation, for Allah’s Messenger (saaws) said, “Whoever does not trim his moustache is not one of us.” They claim that if the Messenger (saaws) said “he is not one of us” this means that it is obligatory because this was an indication linking it to obligation. In answer to this we say that not every hadith after which Allah’s Messenger mentions the phrase “not one of us” carries or entails an obligation. This has to be looked into a little closer.
Many ahadith came with the phrase “not one of us” but this did not mean that the requests were an obligation, they were only desirable actions. For example, the Messenger of Allah (saaws) said, “Whoever does not shave his pubic hair, cut his nails and trim his moustache is not one of us.” Does this mean that cutting nails is obligatory? The Messenger of Allah (saaws) said, “Whoever does not perform witr prayer is not one of us.” Does this mean that whoever does not pray witr is an unbeliever or rebellious?
The phrase “not one of us” does not necessarily entail an obligatory action. The Messenger of Allah (saaws) said, “Three acts are wajib for me and sunnah (desirable for you: witr, siwak (using the tooth stick) and night vigil.” Scholars have all agreed that all agreed that witr is desirable and not obligatory. in another hadith, Allah ‘s Messenger (saaws) said, “Marriage is from my sunnah, whoever dies not follow my sunnah is not one of me.” This is an indication that muslims are encouraged to marry and that it is desirable, but it does not mean that marriage is obligatory.
Therefore, the hadith has to be looked into if it contains the phrase “he is not one of us.” It could entail a forbidden action, or a desirable one or an undesirable one or an obligatory one, like when Allah’s messenger (saaws) said, “He is not one of us who calls for (boasts about) race.” This means that it is forbidden, not because of the phrase “not one of us” only but because Shariah has forbidden it in many ahadith and ayahs.
The Messenger of Allah (saaws) said, “He is not one of us who cheats us.” Cheating is forbidden, not because of the phrase “not one of us,” only but because Shariah has forbidden cheating in other ahadith.
As for the hadith where he (saaws) said, “Whoever does not trim his moustache is not one of us,” this only means that trimming is desirable. Imam ibn Hanbal said when he was asked about the trimming of the moustache, “It is from the Sunnah” i.e. it is desirable.
Trimming the moustache means cutting the hairs that grow over the lips because it has been mentioned that it is undesirable to completely shave the moustache.
Some might say that the Sahabah never shaved their beards and this means that it is forbidden. it has to be said here that the evidence for the verdict is not related to what the Sahabah did or did not do. The evidence should be drawn form the request of the Messenger of Allah (saaws) to act different to be unbeliever. This request has not been definitive to suggest obligation. As for the Sahabah not shaving, the beards had been a habit that people took up before Islam and after it, and they never had the need to shave it. The same with the wearing of the amamah (head dress); no one has narrated that he saw any of the Sahabah walking the streets with no amamah on. The wearing of the amamah by the sahabah does not make it an obligation and no scholar had ever claimed that just because the Sahabah used to wear amamah, we are all obliged to do so. Therefore such evidence is rejected.
Some say that the messenger of Allah never shaved his beard and back it with the ayats, “Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example.” [33:21] and, “And whatsoever the messenger gives you, take it. And whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it).” [59:7] In answer to this we say that it is true that the following on the Messenger of Allah’s footstep in all actions which are not unique to him is the duty of every Muslim. However, the obligation of following the Messenger of Allah (saaws) does not necessarily entail the obligation of performing all the actions that he (saaws) performed. We are obliged to follow his (saaws) actions according to what the actions entail, i.e. if the action is wajib (obligation), then we are obliged to perform it; if the action is mandub, then it is mandub for us to perform it If we made obligatory and action which is not so, we would then contravene the sunnah of our Messenger (saaws), and if we forbid an action which the Messenger (saaws) did not forbid, we should then contravene the Messenger of Allah (saaws), thus contravening the shariah of Allah.
The Messenger of Allah (saaws) used to like raisins and dates, he used to wear musk and he never liked onion, garlic or rabbits despite the fact he made these things mubah (permitted) for us.
As for the second opinion, which we rely on and prefer, scholars who back this opinion base it on the following evidence.
The Messenger of Allah’s saying, “Ten acts are of fitra…” (same hadith). Al-Nisai’i has actually related the same hadith with the wordings, “Ten are acts of the Sunnah…” Ibn Abbas reported: “These ten acts of fitra had been obligatory in the shariah of Ibrahim (may Allah be pleased with him) and became sunnah in our shariah.” Then he narrated the hadith.
Fitra has many meanings, one of them is Islam or the millah (nation). The Messenger of Allah (saaws) said, “The new-born is born on the fitra…” Some said that it is the physique or the shape which Allah (swt) ordained for people. Some said that the fitra is the beginning. Imam Nawawi said that the fitra means the Sunnah, and that is the right meaning. Imam Khitabi said that the fitra means the sunnah according to many scholars. Qadi Iyad said the the shaving of the beard is makruh (undesirable).
Qadi Ibn al-‘Arabi is one of the scholars who supported the third opinion. He said that letting the beard grow is permitted, and claimed that it is a sign of cleanliness and handsomeness in his book Ahkamul Quran. Imam Qurtubi said that a’ajim (non muslims) used to shave their beards and grow moustaches.
We conclude that the issue has been a center of controversy and differences amongst scholars. A Muslim has the right to adopt any opinion from a scholar he trusts and feels that his opinion has the strongest evidence. The opinion which is strongest in evidence is the one we think is saying that the growing of the beard is mandub. A Muslim gets a reward for growing it but does not get punished if he did no.
Some people say that the four most distinguished scholars, Malik, Abu Hanifah, Shafi’i and Ahmad, have agreed that letting the beard grow is wajib (obligatory). This view is not correct because those four scholars never actually said that it is obligatory at all. Whoever read their books would find that claim is false and their followers are actually the best proof. Nawawi, Ibn Qudamah, Ibn Hammam, Shawkhani, Qadi Iyad and Zarqani never said the growing of the beard is obligatory. Whoever claims that the Shafi’i, Hanafi, Hanbali or Maliki schools have said that letting the beard grow is an obligation should make reference to the source i.e. which book stated that so that blame and false attributions, Allah forbid, are avoided. And even if a scholar said that it is obligatory, this does not mean that all people have to abide by their opinion, for their are other scholars and shariah experts who hold different views and opinions. As we mentioned before, differences in the branches of deen are permitted, and Allah (swt) knows best.
Ar-Raya Magazine, April 1994 -
Zakat of Crops and Fruits and the Provision of Treasure Troves
Question
My dear Ameer and honorable Sheikh: What are the varieties of crops and fruit on which the Zakat is due? For example there are some who pay the Zakat on oil, what is the standard in that?
It is known that the Fifth (al-Khams) is due on buried treasures or treasure troves. My question is: Someone found Ottoman properties (funds of the livelihoods of soldiers). Does he then own them after paying the due Fifth or is it property of the Islamic State, to be kept in trust and returned to the Khilafah State, when it is established soon, Bidhnillah?
Wa Barakallahu Feekum,
Abu Hussam Ad-Deen, Tarqumiyyah, Hebron, PalestineAnswer
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatahu
1. Regarding the varieties of crops and fruit on which the Zakat is due, they are: wheat, barley, dates, and raisins. They have been mentioned exclusively in the Ahadeeth, so no other agricultural produce is included. The evidence is the following:
a. Musa Bin Talha narrated from ‘Umar that he said:«إنّما سنّ رسول الله الزكاة في هذه الأربعة: الحنطة، والشعير، والتمر، والزبيب» “The Messenger of Allah (saw) taught the Zakat on these four: wheat, barley, dates, and raisins.” Narrated by at-Tabaraani.
And it is also narrated from Musa Bin Talha who said:أمر رسول الله معاذ بن جبل – حين بعثه إلى اليمن – أن يأخذ الصدقة من الحنطة والشعير، والنخل، والعنب “The Messenger of Allah (saw) ordered Mu’adh Bin Jabal when he sent him to Yemen to collect the Sadaqah on wheat, barley, palms, and grapes.” Narrated by Abu ‘Ubayd.
These Ahadeeth show that Zakat on crops and fruit is to be taken from these four varieties: wheat, barley, dates, and raisins. The Zakat is not to be taken from other types of crops and fruit, because the first Hadeeth came in a wording that indicates a limiting linguistic function.
b. Al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi, and at-Tabaraani narrated the Hadeeth from Abu Musa and Mu’adh, when they were sent to Yemen by the Prophet (saw), to teach the people their Deen that he (saw) said: «لا تأخذا الصدقة إلاّ من هذه الأربعة: الشعير، والحنطة، والزبيب، والتمر» “The Sadaqah is not taken except from these four: barley, wheat, raisins, and dates.”
Al-Bayhaqi said about this Hadeeth: “Its narrators are trustworthy and its narration is a chain transmission (Muttasil).”
This Hadeeth is clear in limiting the Zakah that is due on crops and fruit to these four varieties, because the word إلاّ “except/only” if preceded by a particle of negation, limits what came before it to what comes after it. Hence the Sadaqah was limited to the four varieties that were mentioned afterwards, being: barley, wheat, raisins, and dates.
c. The words “wheat, barley, dates, and raisins” which appeared in the Ahadeeth are static, thus do not carry other than their original meanings, no direct meaning (Mantuq) and no implied meaning (Mafhum), because they are not appellative nor category names. Rather they are limited to the objects which are named after them, and called by these names. Therefore such meanings as “dried fruits” or “food reserves” cannot be derived from their wording, because they do not imply these meanings or attributes. These Ahadeeth, which confined the necessity of Zakat to these four types of crops and fruit, specify the general wording that came in the Hadeeth:فيما سقت السماء العشر، وفيما سقي بغرب، أو دالية، نصف العشر “The tenth is due on what is watered from the sky, and half the tenth on what is irrigated by carried water.”
This means that the tenth is due on what is watered by the sky from wheat, barley, dates, and raisins. While half the tenth is due on what has been irrigated by carried water.
d. The Zakat is not obligatory on other than these four varieties of crops and fruit. So the Zakat is not taken from corn, rice, beans, chickpeas, lentils, and other grains or cereals. It is not taken from apples, pears, peaches, apricots, pomegranates, oranges, bananas, and other types of fruit, because these grains and fruits are not covered by the words “wheat, barley, dates, and raisins”. Also there is neither an authentic text that enumerates any of the aforementioned, nor is there a consensus, nor are they included through a Qiyas (analogy), because the Zakat is an act of worship, and the worships are not open to analogy in the form of Qiyas. Rather the worships are confined to the range of the text. Similar the Zakat is not taken from vegetables, such as cucumber, pumpkin, eggplant, turnips, carrots etc. It is reported from ‘Umar, Ali, Mujahid, and others, that there is no Sadaqah on vegetables, as narrated by Abu ‘Ubayd, al-Bayhaqi, and others.
2. Concerning the second part of the question pertaining to treasure troves: Who finds a treasure has to pay the Fifth on it to the Islamic State, which will spend it in the interest of the Muslims. The other four-fifths belong to the one who found the treasure, unless he found it on someone else’s land.
If there were no Islamic State, as is the case today, the one who finds the treasure pays the Fifth to the poor and needy and spends it in the interests of the Muslims. Thereby he frees himself from that obligation and the rest belongs to him.
The evidence for this is:A. A treasure is money buried in the ground, either silver, or gold, or jewels, or pearls, or otherwise, like armaments or weapons; whether treasures buried by former peoples like the ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Sassanids, Romans, Greeks, and others, consisting of coins, ornaments, or jewels that are found in the tombs of the kings and nobles, or in the hills of ancient rundown towns. Be it golden coins, or silver, placed in a jug, or other, hidden in the earth since the days of Jahiliyyah, or the last Islamic days. All of that is considered a treasure.
Linguistically the Arabic term for treasure “الرِكاز” is derived from “ركز، يركز”, similar to the term “غرز يغرز” (to implant), describing something hidden. The saying goes: “The spear is fixed when he plants it into the ground.” Also “الرِّكز” is the hidden sound. Allah Almighty said: ((أَوْ تَسْمَعُ لَهُمْ رِكْزًا)) “or hear from them a sound?” [Maryam: 98]
Whereas metal is what Allah created in the earth, upon the creation of the heavens and the earth, from gold, silver, copper, lead, and others. Linguistically “المعدن” (metal) is derived from “عَدَنَ” (perpetuate), i.e. to perpetuate in a place if you lived in it. Paradise was named after it as “جنة عدن”, because it is a place of eternal stay. Hence metals are from the creation of Allah, they were not buried by humans. Therefore they carry a ruling different from treasures, since the treasure was buried by human beings.
B. The original ruling on treasure troves and metals, is what Abu Hurayrah reported from the Messenger of Allah (saw), who said: العجماءُ جرحها جُبار، وفي الركاز الخمس “The wounding of a beast requires compensation, and on the treasure the Fifth is due.” Narrated by Abu ‘Ubayd.
Also what was narrated from ‘Abdullah Bin ‘Amru that the Prophet (saw) was asked about the money that is found on a desolate plain, and said: «فيه وفي الركاز الخمس» “On it and on the treasure trove the Fifth is due.”
And what was narrated by ‘Ali Bin Abi Talib from the Prophet (saw), that he said: وفي السيوب الخمس. قال: والسيوب عروق الذهب والفضة التي تحت الأرض”On the Suyub the Fifth is due. He said: The Suyub are the veins of gold and silver under the ground.” Mentioned by Ibn Qudamah in Al-Maghniy.
C. Therefore, all money that is buried from gold, silver, jewelry, jewels, or other, found in graves, or in the hills, or in the cities of previous nations, or found in the land of dead, or in the desolate plain, that is relatively old, buried in the times of Jahiliyyah, or buried by Muslims in the past eras of Islam, is owned by the finder, who pays the Fifth to the State Treasury (Bayt al-Mal).
Similarly every small amount of metal, that is not worth of counting, be it gold or silver, whether in the form of veins or discharged, that was found on dead land, not owned by anyone, is the property of the finder, who pays from it the Fifth to the State Treasury (Bayt al-Mal). If the amount is worth of counting, not a limited amount buried, then it takes the rule of public ownership and has other details.
The Fifth that is taken from the finder of the treasure and the finder of the metal is paid into a department within the State Treasury, called “Diwan al-Fay’ wal-Kharaaj” and is spent in the same way as al-Fay’ and al-Kharaaj. They fall under the proxy of the Khaleefah who spends them in care of the affairs of the Ummah, and spends them in their interests according to his opinion and diligence, for the sake of goodness and righteousness.
D. Whoever finds a treasure or metal on his own property, either his land or his building, then it is his property, whether he bequeathed the land or the building, or bought it from others. Who finds a treasure or metal in the land or building of another, then the treasure or metal belong to the owner of that land or building.
Your brother,
Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah05 Muharram 1435
2013/11/08 -
Taxation in Islam: Wealth Tax
The following article is based on the book Funds in the Khilafah State which is a translation of Al-Amwal fi Dowlat Al-Khilafah by Abdul-Qadeem Zalloom.
Allah (swt) has revealed a comprehensive economic system that details all aspects of economic life including government revenues and taxation. In origin, the permanent sources of revenue for the Bait ul-Mal (State Treasury) should be sufficient to cover the obligatory expenditure of the Islamic State. These revenues that Shar’a has defined are: Fa’i, Jizya, Kharaj, Ushur, and income from Public properties.
The financial burdens placed on modern states today are far higher than in previous times. When the Khilafah is re-established it will need to finance a huge re-development and industrial programme to reverse centuries of decline, and bring the Muslim world fully into the 21st century. Because of this, the Bait ul-Mal’s permanent sources of revenue may be insufficient to cover all the needs and interests the Khilafah is obliged to spend upon. In such a situation where the Bait ul-Mal’s revenues are insufficient to meet the Khilafah’s budgetary requirements, the Islamic obligation transfers from the Bait ul-Mal to the Muslims as a whole.
This is because Allah (swt) has obliged the Muslims to spend on these needs and interests, and their failure to spend on them will lead to the harming of Muslims. Allah (swt) obliged the State and the Ummah to remove any harm from the Muslims.
It was related on the authority of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri, (ra), that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “It is not allowed to do harm nor to allow being harmed.” [Ibn Majah, Al-Daraqutni]
Therefore, Allah (swt) has obliged the State to collect money from the Muslims in order to cover its obligatory expenditure. The State achieves this by imposing taxes upon the Muslims such that these needs and interests are met without being exceeded. These taxes should only be taken from people’s surplus wealth. This wealth is what is left after someone has spent on his basic needs, and also his luxuries according to the normal standard of living.
There are six areas of expenditure the Bait ul-Mal is obliged to spend upon. If insufficient funds are available then taxes will be imposed upon the Muslims to meet the expenditure. These areas are:
- The expenditure upon Jihad and what is necessary for it.
- Expenditure on military industries
- Spending on the poor, needy and wayfarers.
- Expenses such as the salaries of soldiers, civil servants, judges, teachers and the like who provide services for the benefit of the Ummah.
- Expenses due in the form of services and caring of the Ummah.
- Expenditure upon emergencies like famines, earthquakes, floods and enemy attacks.
1. The expenditure upon Jihad and what is necessary for it
The Islamic State is obliged to establish powerful and highly trained armed forces. These armed forces must be prepared with the latest and most sophisticated weapons such that their quality and quantity deter, subdue and frighten the enemy. These forces will liberate our lands from occupation, terminate the influence of the Kuffar in the Muslim world, and aid the state in conveying Islam to the world.
Expenditure on Jihad and what is necessary for it is one of the rights due upon the Bait ul-Mal whether there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal or not. If there are funds available, then they are spent on Jihad and its requirements. If there are no funds, then the duty of spending on Jihad, as long as Jihad is obligatory and designated, transfers from the Bait ul-Mal to the Muslims, since Jihad is obligatory upon Muslims by wealth and person.
Allah (swt) says:
انْفِرُواْ خِفَافًا وَثِقَالاً وَجَاهِدُواْ بِأَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنفُسِكُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ ذَلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
“So go out, no matter whether you are lightly or heavily armed, and struggle in Allah’sway with your possessions and your persons: this is better for you, if you only knew.” [TMQ At-Tawba: 9:41]
Anas (ra) narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Fight the polytheists with your wealth, lives and tongues.” [Abu Dawud]
In addition, there are tens of Ayaat and Ahadith that oblige Jihad by wealth and person upon the Muslims.
In the situation where there are no funds in the Bait ul-Mal to spend on Jihad and its requirements, the State must encourage Muslims to contribute voluntarily to Jihad as the Messenger of Allah (saw) used to do.
Abdur Rahman bin Khabbab as-Salmi said: “The Prophet (saw) gave a Khutbah (speech) and encouraged [people to donate] regarding the army of difficulty, so Uthman bin Affan said: ‘Upon me are 100 camels with their saddle-blankets and saddle bags.’ Then he (saw) descended the steps of the pulpit (Mimbar) and encouraged again, so Uthman said: ‘Upon me are another 100 with their saddle-blankets and saddle bags.’” [Ahmed]
Hudhayfa bin al-Yaman said: “The Prophet (saw) sent a request to Uthman seeking assistance from him for the army of difficulty, so Uthman sent to him 10,000 Dinars which were poured before him. The Prophet (saw) began turning them before him while praying for him and he (saw) said: ‘May Allah forgive you, O Uthman, for what you have made secret, what you have revealed, what you have hidden, and all that will be until the Hour comes. Uthman should not mind of any action he does after this.’“
If the voluntary contributions of the Muslims are insufficient to cover the designated Jihad, then the State will impose taxes upon Muslims up to the amount necessary and no more, to cover the expenditure. It is not allowed for the State to tax more than is required.
2. Expenditure on military industries
The Islamic State is obliged to establish military and other associated industries to enable the manufacturing of the latest and most sophisticated weapons and equipment for the armed forces. This is because Jihad requires an army, and the army requires weapons so that it can fight. Building highly effective and powerful weapons requires manufacturing. Therefore the military weapons industry has a close relationship with Jihad.
For the State to be in full control of her affairs, and free from the influence and control of other states, she must undertake the production and development of her own weapons especially its vital weapons. This is so that the State has the most modern and developed weapons, irrespective of how much weapons develop and advance. Also the State must have under her control all that she requires of weapons to scare every enemy whether open or hidden, according to the State’s international position.
The absence of these military factories in the Ummah makes Muslims dependent upon Kafir states for armament, a matter which may make the Muslims political will and decision making subject to the will and decisions of the Kuffar. These Kafir states do not sell weapons except with conditions attached that fulfil their interests, and this would inflict the most terrible harm upon the Ummah.
Establishing of these factories is therefore obligatory upon Muslims from the texts of the Ayaat and Ahadith that oblige Jihad upon Muslims by wealth and person by the indispensable indication (Dalalat al-Iltizam). This is because Jihad depends upon weapons and weapons require industry. This is also indicated by the saying of Allah (swt):
وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُم مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مِّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رِّبَاطِ الْخَيْلِ تُرْهِبُونَ بِهِ عَدْوَّ اللّهِ وَعَدُوَّكُمْ وَآخَرِينَ مِن دُونِهِمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَهُمُ اللّهُ يَعْلَمُهُمْ
“Prepare whatever forces you [believers] can muster, including warhorses, to frighten off Allah’s enemies and yours, and warn others unknown to you but known to Allah.” [TMQ Al-Anfal: 8:60]
The preparation ordered by Allah (swt) is the preparation which achieves the terrorising of the enemies, whether they are open, hidden or potential enemies. This terror depends upon acquiring vital and developed weapons of the highest level, and acquiring of such weapons depends upon establishing factories. Therefore, this Ayah indicates the obligation upon the Ummah to establish factories by the indispensable indication (Dalalat al-Iltizam).
Moreover, the absence of these factories inflicts a terrible harm upon the Ummah, and removing harm from the Ummah is obligatory. The removal of this harm will not be achieved except by establishing military, manufacturing and other associated industries.
It is permissible for individuals within the Ummah to establish all or some of these industries to manufacture the necessary weapons. If however, they do not establish them, or they only establish some of them, then the State is obliged to build factories necessary to produce all the weapons and equipment the armed forces need.
Building these factories is one of the obligatory rights upon Bait ul-Mal, whether there are funds in it or not. If funds are present, then they are spent to build these factories. If there are no funds available then the financial obligation transfers to the Ummah. In this case the state introduces a tax in order to raise the necessary funds, irrespective of the amount.
3. Spending on the poor, needy and wayfarers.
This is an obligation whether there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal or not. The expenditure is from the Bait ul-Mal, when there are sufficient funds. If there are no funds in the Bait ul-Mal then the obligation transfers to the Muslims. This is because spending upon the poor, needy and wayfarers has been obliged by Allah (swt) upon the Muslims in the form of Zakat and Sadaqah.
The Messenger of Allah (saw) has narrated from his Lord: “The one who goes to sleep satisfied while he knows that his neighbour next to him is hungry does not believe in me.” [Tabarani]
Therefore, if there are funds available in the Bait ul-Mal to spend on the poor, needy and wayfarers then they are spent on them. If not, the obligation is transferred to the Muslims and the State raises taxes for this purpose such that the required amount of funding is raised.
4. Expenses such as the salaries of soldiers, civil servants, judges, teachers and the like who provide services for the benefit of the Ummah.
Those who provide services for the benefit of the Ummah deserve, in return for providing these services, a wage from the Bait ul-Mal. Spending on their wages is an obligation whether or not there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal. If there are funds available then they are spent upon them. If not, then the obligation is transferred to the Muslims.
This is because Allah (swt) has ordained the authority (Sultan) for the Ummah. He (swt) obliged the Ummah to appoint a Khaeefah whom she pledges allegiance (Bay’ah) to hear and obey according to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw).
The Khaleefah undertakes this authority on the Ummah’s behalf and takes care of her affairs in accordance with the Book and Sunnah. Taking care of her affairs can only be accomplished by establishing the institutions of State, such as: judges, soldiers, teachers and civil servants. Appointing such people requires the payment of compensation and wages. Since Allah (swt) has obliged the Muslims to appoint such people, then He (swt) has also obliged them to pay their compensation and wages by indispensable indication (Dalalat al-Iltizam).
The Messenger of Allah (saw) appointed governors, employees, secretaries and assigned grants (‘Atiyyat) for them. Similarly the Khulafa’a after him appointed governors, officials, judges, secretaries and soldiers, and they assigned grants for them from the Bait ul-Mal.
Funding for these people is therefore taken either from the Bait ul-Mal or by imposing the required taxes on the Muslims where the Bait ul-Mal has insufficient funds for this purpose.
5. Expenses due in the form of services and caring of the Ummah
These expenses are spent on utilities whose existence is considered a necessity (Dharura) such that in their absence harm would result to the Ummah. These utilities could include: public roads, schools, universities, hospitals, mosques, water supplies and similar services.
The right of spending upon these matters is considered obligatory whether or not there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal. If there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal then they are used to establish these utilities. If not, then the obligation to spend upon them is transferred to the Muslims. This is because spending upon them is obligatory upon Muslims, since failure to establish them will result in harm to the Ummah.
Harm must be removed both by the State and the Ummah due to the saying of the Prophet (saw): “It is not allowed to do harm nor to allow being harmed,” and his (saw) saying: “Whoever harms (others) then Allah will harm him, and whoever overburdens them Allah will overburden him.” [Hakim]
However, if the absence of services offered by the State does not harm the Ummah, then it is not obliged to provide them. An example is the opening of a second road or refurbishing it when there is another suitable road available that can meet people’s needs, or building a school, university or hospital when there are others available, or widening streets that don’t necessarily need to be widened.
Another example is the establishment of projects where failure to do so does not result in harm to the Ummah, like mining nickel or building a shipyard to build commercial ships. The State undertakes all these matters only when there are surplus funds in the Bait ul-Mal. If there are no funds in the Bait ul-Mal, then the State does not undertake them nor is it permitted to impose taxes for them. This is because Muslims are not harmed by their absence, therefore establishing them is not obligatory.
This is in contrast to the expenditure on services and utilities where the failure to spend on them results in harm to the Ummah. If there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal, they are spent upon establishing and providing the necessary utilities, if not, the State imposes taxes to raise the necessary amount provide these utilities.
6. Expenditure upon emergencies like famines, earthquakes, floods and enemy attacks
The right of spending on these matters is not linked to the presence of funds in the Bait ul-Mal. Such spending is obligatory irrespective of whether there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal or not. If there are funds in the Bait ul-Mal, then they must be spent immediately whenever these emergencies occur. If there are no funds, then it becomes obligatory upon the Muslims, and the funds have to be collected from them immediately and without delay.
If harm is feared due to any delay, then the State borrows the amount necessary to spend upon these emergencies and then pays back what it borrowed from the money it collected from the Muslims.
The evidence for obliging this upon Muslims is the Hadith: “The one who goes to sleep satisfied while he knows that his neighbour next to him is hungry does not believe in me,” and the Hadith: “Any community, whosoever they are, if a person among them became hungry, they will be removed from the protection of Allah the Blessed, the Supreme.” [Ahmed] This is in relation to famine. As for earthquakes and floods, the evidence for obliging Muslims to spend upon these natural disasters is the obligation of saving the unfortunate ones and removing harm from the Muslims.
These are the interests that Muslims are obliged to spend upon when there are no funds in the Bait ul-Mal, and for which the State has to impose taxes upon Muslims when the permanent sources of revenues of the Bait ul-Mal and the revenues from the protected public properties (Hima), are insufficient.
Wealth Tax
Taxes are levied on the wealth of the Muslims which is in excess of their basic needs and their luxuries according to normal standards of living. Taxes are only collected from those who have surplus wealth and nothing is taken from those who have no surplus wealth. This is because the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “The best Sadaqah is that given out of richness.”
The richness here means what the person can afford after satisfying his needs.
It was narrated from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “Start with yourself when giving Sadaqah. If there remains any excess, then to your family. If there remains any excess, then to your relatives. If there remains any excess, then do like this, give those in front of you and those to your right and those to your left.” [Muslim]
He (saw) deferred the obligation of spending upon anyone else until after spending upon oneself. Taxes are similar to this are as they are like financial maintenance and Sadaqah.
Allah (saw) says:
وَيَسْأَلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ قُلِ الْعَفْوَ
“They ask you what they should give: say, ‘Give what you can spare.’” [TMQ Al-Baqarah 2:219]
In other words, spending which causes no hardship and which is extra to one’s needs. There is no concept of income tax in Islam as we find in western capitalist countries. Taxes are only levied on excess wealth and not on income.
The State is also not allowed to impose indirect taxes such as sales taxes on goods and services. Nor can it impose taxes in the form of court fees, fees on petitions forwarded to the State, sale or registration of land, buildings or measurements or other types of taxes other than those in the shar’iah. This is because imposing oppressive or illegal taxation is one of the prohibited injustices about which the Messenger of Allah (saw) said: “He who imposes maks (custom duty) would not enter paradise.” [Ad-Darimi, Ahmed and Abu ‘Ubayd]
In western capitalist countries their taxation penalises the poor and vulnerable in society. Clever accounting and offshore Swiss bank accounts ensure the rich in western societies can avoid paying the majority of taxes altogether. In the UK for example, the Queen is one of the richest people in Britain yet she pays no income tax, whereas a poor single mother or an old age pensioner must pay income tax. With regressive taxes like the sales taxes on goods and services these hurt the poor more than the rich since the tax rates are the same for both.
Unfortunately, the Muslim governments today see adopting the western capitalist system as the only way to achieve economic progress. We therefore find the same oppressive taxation introduced into Muslim countries such as the General Sales Tax (GST) in Pakistan.
This is not to mention the endemic corruption where tax revenues are diverted from the State Treasury into the personal bank accounts of the rulers and other government officials.
Taxes in Islam are only collected to raise the amount necessary to cover the deficit in the obligatory expenditure of the Bait ul-Mal. When imposing taxation, no consideration is given to the notion of preventing the increase of wealth, or preventing richness or increasing the revenues of the Bait ul-Mal. Consideration is only given to fulfilling the required expenditure on the obligatory needs and interests on the State.
If any taxes are taken over and above the obligatory expenditure then this is considered a mazlama (injustice). The Court of Unjust Acts (mahkamat ul-mazalim) has the power to investigate any excessive taxation. If after the court’s investigation the tax or tax-rate is deemed to indeed be a mazlama then the court can oblige the State to abolish or lower the tax and return any excess money to the Muslims.
Therefore, the shar’iah has resolved the problem of financing the expenditure on the Ummah’s needs and interests in a 21st century Khilafah.
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Q&A: Giving Zakah for other than basic needs?
The following is a translation from Arabic.بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Question:
It has been said in our books that a poor person is one who does not have sufficient resources to satisfy his basic needs (food, clothing and shelter) and zakat can be paid to him. But there are other needs which are almost similar to the basic needs and the Islamic State used to fulfill such needy persons from the bait ul maal of the Muslims like education, marriage assistance, medical treatment etc… In these times, we do not have an Islamic State that fulfills such needs, hence the question is:
Is it possible to pay for such needs from zakat under?
1. Non-existence of an Islamic State to cover such needs.
2. Certain jurists (Fuqaha) have permitted this under specific conditions.
3. These needs are not novelty or luxury needs but are similar to basic needs.
Then, if we were to follow the jurists’ opinion, would we be violating from the adoption?Answer:
When we defined a needy person (faqeer), who can be paid from zakat, we defined him as one who does not have resources to fulfill his basic needs. This was based upon evidences and described in the book “The Economic System” page 213 lines 4-13 (Arabic version), therein we said: “
Islam considers poverty as one matter for a man in any country and any generation. Poverty in the view of Islam, is the non-satisfaction of the basic needs in a complete way. Shar’a has defined these basic needs in three things, which are food, clothing and accommodation.
Allah (swt) said:
{وَعلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ لاَ تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لاَ تُضَآرَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِهَا وَلاَ مَوْلُودٌ لَّهُ بِوَلَدِهِ وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ }
“but the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear. No mother shall be treated unfairly on account of her child, nor father on account of his child. And on the (father’s) heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on the father)”. [TMQ al-Baqarah: 233]
And Allah (swt) said:
{أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُم مِّن وُجْدِكُمْ }
“Lodge them (the divorced women) where you dwell, according to your means,” [TMQ at Talaaq: 06]
Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Al-Ahwass that he said, The Messenger of Allah said:
«ألا وحقهن عليكم أن تحسنوا إليهن في كسوتهن وطعامهن»
“Beware! Their right upon you is to provide them their clothes and food seemly.” This indicates that the basic needs, whose non-satisfaction is considered as poverty, are food, clothing and accommodation.
Also in the book “The Funds in the Khilafah State”, page 197 lines 10-13 (Arabic versions) we said:
The needy persons are those income is not sufficient to fulfill their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. So a persons who earns less than what is required to fulfill his basic needs, is considered to be a needy person and is allowed to be given from sadaqah and is permitted to accept it.
And this is our preferred position on the issue.
As for the questioner’s statement that since an Islamic State does not exist to pay for these needs, yes indeed there is no Islamic State, but there are Muslims. The correct position is that the Muslims pay such needy persons from their wealth and not from their zakat, while paying the zakat to the poor persons for their basic needs. They must pay form their excess wealth to such persons to cover their above mentioned requirements (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment).
As for this being in violation of the adoption, if the questioner follows the opinion of the faqeeh or mujtahid and pays from his zakat to pay for these non-basic needs (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment), thereby reducing from zakat to pay for the basic needs (food, clothing and shelter), then yes indeed it is a violation of the adopted position. But we do not administratively penalise on such violation. Thus a persons who follows the opinion of a preferred faqeeh or mujtahid to pay from his zakat for non-basic needs (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment), we do not administratively penalise him, his actions are with Allah (swt) to account for.
13th Muharram 1429 A.H
21st January, 2008 C.E -
Zakah when there is no Islamic State?
Question:
It has been said in our books that a poor person is one who does not have sufficient resources to satisfy his basic needs (food, clothing and shelter) and zakat can be paid to him. But there are other needs which are almost similar to the basic needs and the Islamic State used to fulfill such needy persons from the bait ul maal of the Muslims like education, marriage assistance, medical treatment etc… In these times, we do not have an Islamic State that fulfills such needs, hence the question is:
Is it possible to pay for such needs from zakat under?
1. Non-existence of an Islamic State to cover such needs.
2. Certain jurists (Fuqaha) have permitted this under specific conditions.
3. These needs are not novelty or luxury needs but are similar to basic needs.
Then, if we were to follow the jurists’ opinion, would we be violating from the adoption?
Answer:
When we defined a needy person (faqeer), who can be paid from zakat, we defined him as one who does not have resources to fulfill his basic needs. This was based upon evidences and described in the book “The Economic System” page 213 lines 4-13 (Arabic version), therein we said: “
Islam considers poverty as one matter for a man in any country and any generation. Poverty in the view of Islam, is the non-satisfaction of the basic needs in a complete way. Shar’a has defined these basic needs in three things, which are food, clothing and accommodation.
Allah سبحانه وتعالى said:
وَعَلَى الْمَوْلُودِ لَهُ رِزْقُهُنَّ وَكِسْوَتُهُنَّ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ لاَ تُكَلَّفُ نَفْسٌ إِلاَّ وُسْعَهَا لاَ تُضَارَّ وَالِدَةٌ بِوَلَدِهَا وَلاَ مَوْلُودٌ لَهُ بِوَلَدِهِ وَعَلَى الْوَارِثِ مِثْلُ ذَلِكَ
“but the father of the child shall bear the cost of the mother’s food and clothing on a reasonable basis. No person shall have a burden laid on him greater than he can bear. No mother shall be treated unfairly on account of her child, nor father on account of his child. And on the (father’s) heir is incumbent the like of that (which was incumbent on the father)”. [Surah al-Baqarah 2:233]
And Allah سبحانه وتعالى said:
أَسْكِنُوهُنَّ مِنْ حَيْثُ سَكَنتُمْ مِنْ وُجْدِكُمْ
“Lodge them (the divorced women) where you dwell, according to your means,” [Surah at-Talaaq 65:6]
Ibn Majah narrated from Abu Al-Ahwass that he said, RasulAllah سلم و عليه الله صلى said,
أَلَا وَحَقُّهُنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ تُحْسِنُوا إِلَيْهِنَّ فِي كِسْوَتِهِنَّ وَطَعَامِهِنَّ
“Beware! Their right upon you is to provide them their clothes and food seemly.” This indicates that the basic needs, whose non-satisfaction is considered as poverty, are food, clothing and accommodation.
Also in the book “The Funds in the Khilafah State”, page 197 lines 10-13 (Arabic versions) we said:
“The needy persons are those income is not sufficient to fulfill their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. So a persons who earns less than what is required to fulfill his basic needs, is considered to be a needy person and is allowed to be given from sadaqah and is permitted to accept it.”
And this is our preferred position on the issue.
As for the questioner’s statement that since an Islamic State does not exist to pay for these needs, yes indeed there is no Islamic State, but there are Muslims. The correct position is that the Muslims pay such needy persons from their wealth and not from their zakat, while paying the zakat to the poor persons for their basic needs. They must pay form their excess wealth to such persons to cover their above mentioned requirements (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment).
As for this being in violation of the adoption, if the questioner follows the opinion of the faqeeh or mujtahid and pays from his zakat to pay for these non-basic needs (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment), thereby reducing from zakat to pay for the basic needs (food, clothing and shelter), then yes indeed it is a violation of the adopted position. But we do not administratively penalise on such violation. Thus a person who follows the opinion of a preferred faqeeh or mujtahid to pay from his zakat for non-basic needs (education, marriage assistance, medical treatment), we do not administratively penalise him, his actions are with Allah سبحانه وتعالى to account for.
13th Muharram 1429 A.H
21st January, 2008 C.E
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Make Ramadhan the Month of Victory again
O Muslims! Make Ramadhan the month of victory again by re-establishing the Khilafah
Alhamdulillah, the blessed month of Ramadhan is upon the Muslims again. Ramadhan is the month within which al-Quran al-Kareem was sent down from Lauh al-Mahfooz to Bayt ul-Izza. It is the month within which there is a night, Laylut al-Qadr, which is better than a thousand months for those who witness it in worship. And it is the month in which Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands the Muslims to fast, ties up the Shayateen, locks the gates of Hell and opens the gate of Heaven, allowing the Muslims to raise themselves in piety and draw strength from their Lord, Al-Qawwy, Al-Azeem.
Previous generations of Muslims, in the period of ruling by the Book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى, drew from the abundant blessings of Ramadhan to achieve victory over the kuffar. Under the leadership of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم the Islamic State defeated the leading tribe amongst the Arabs, the Quray’sh, at the battle of Badr. This was despite the fact that the Islamic State’s army was small in number, poorly equipped and outnumbered three-fold by a powerful and experienced adversary. Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمْ اللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍ وَأَنْتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
“And Allah already helped you in Badr when you were a weak little force. So fear Allah and be grateful to him.” [Surah Aali-Imran 3:123]
Also, during Ramadhan, the Islamic State undertook the Opening of Makkah (Fatah Makkah) that finally brought the Qur’aysh under the Islamic authority, ending their tyranny over others and paved the way for the rapid expansion of the Islamic State throughout the lands. After the Opening of Makkah, Allah سبحانه وتعالى said,
إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ
وَرَأَيْتَ النَّاسَ يَدْخُلُونَ فِي دِينِ اللَّهِ أَفْوَاجًا“When the Help and Victory of Allah comes. And you see the people enter in droves into Islam.” [Surah An-Nasr 110:1-2]
And in the centuries of Islamic rule after the era of RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم and the Khulafa’a Rashida رضوان الله عليهم, the Islamic Khilafah State achieved major victories during Ramadhan whilst facing formidable enemies. The Muslims succeeded in expelling the occupying Crusaders from Ash-Sham even though they had settled on some parts of it for well over a century. The Muslims prevailed over the barbaric Tartars at Ein Jaloot, even though they had reigned terrible destruction upon the Muslims before.
So, whilst the Muslims ruled by Islam, with their affairs governed by all that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has revealed, Ramadhan was the month of victory over the enemies of Islam and Muslims. However, this Ramadhan, without the Islamic Khilafah State, the Ummah faces subjugation by the kuffar in almost every sphere of life.
This Ramadhan the Muslims count their dead as the kuffar nations enforce their occupation of Muslims Lands in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir. This Ramadhan, the armies of the Muslims are withheld from helping the Muslims but are sent without hesitation to protect the kuffar from the Muslims. This Ramadhan, the Muslims face an onslaught against their most precious possession, their deen, as the Western colonialists spread corrupt Western culture through reforming the education syllabuses as well as through the media and advertising. And this Ramadhan, Muslims face mounting hardships as the Western colonialists exploit the immense resources of the Ummah.
So, despite the fact that the Ummah is a giant in terms of its lands, material resources, population and armies and its greatest asset, the one true deen, Islam, it lies in humiliation before the kuffar. This matter was inevitable because without the Islamic Khilafah State, politics and ruling are no longer about ordering the Ma’roof (Good) and forbidding the Munkar (Evil). Instead politics and ruling have been reduced to ordering what the colonialists desire and forbidding what the colonialists detest. Politics is no longer about looking after the affairs of the Muslims by seeking the good pleasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى. Instead politics has been sullied into to a cheap competition to please the colonialists, between the current rulers and those who seek to succeed them in ruling.
O Muslims of Pakistan!
This Ramadhan, with the Ummah suffering immensely due to the mischief of the kuffar, you must not be satisfied by turning to Allah سبحانه وتعالى through prayer and fasting alone. Rather you must also work to implement the deen of Allah سبحانه وتعالى on the earth and ensure its dominance over all other ways of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah State, so that Ramadhan witnesses victory after victory again. The work to change the current corrupt rulers and re-establish the Khilafah in their place is not just a matter of life and death, it is an obligation from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. If the Muslims did not perform this duty, it would be an acceptance of the many sins of the rulers. The situation of the Muslims will become worse in the Dunya and they will deserve the punishment in the Aakhira. RasulAllah صلى الله عليه وسلم said,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ لَا يُعَذِّبُ الْعَامَّةَ بِعَمَلِ الْخَاصَّةِ حَتَّى يَرَوْا الْمُنْكَرَ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْهِمْ وَهُمْ قَادِرُونَ عَلَى أَنْ يُنْكِرُوهُ فَلَا يُنْكِرُوهُ فَإِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ عَذَّبَ اللَّهُ الْخَاصَّةَ وَالْعَامَّةَ
“Allah will not punish the common people due to the work of specific people, until they see the munkar amongst themselves and they were able to forbid it but they did not do that. If they did that Allah will punish the specific people and the common people.” (Ahmad)
So, benefit fully from the blessings of Ramadhan. Turn to Allah سبحانه وتعالى by intensifying your struggle against the corrupt rulers and re-establish the Khilafah in their place. Only the Khilafah will re-establish Islam as an authority that would protect the Muslims and their deen and strike fear into the hearts of the enemies. And know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has promised you victory if you are true to Him alone. Allah سبحانه وتعالى says,
وَلاَ تَهِنُوا وَلاَ تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمْ الأَعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
“So do not become weak, nor be sad, and you will be superior (in victory) if you are indeed (true) believers.” [Surah Aali-Imran 3:139]
Hizb ut-Tahrir
14 September 2007
Wilayah Pakistan
