Q. I was confused when I read in your column that prayers may not be offered after their time has passed in what is known as qadaa. Whenever I miss Fajr prayer through sleep, I offer it as soon as I wake up. Is this not the right procedure to do?
M. Asghar
A. Yes, it is the right thing to do, but this is not qadaa; it is praying on time. The Prophet says: “Whoever misses a prayer through sleep or forgetfulness should offer it when he is conscious of it, as this is its time.” You see, here we have an exception, because sleeping through the time range of a prayer, and being unconscious, are legitimate reasons for missing a prayer. God has given us the concession that the time for such a prayer is extended until we wake up, get ready and offer that prayer. There should be no delay or time wasting when this happens. Offering that particular prayer should be treated as a priority, and it must be done as soon as possible. Of course one must prepare oneself for the prayer properly, doing the ablution first. It is when one misses a prayer for no valid reason that one cannot offer it again. Its time would have passed and it is no longer valid. Some people are lax about prayer, and they miss their prayers for all sorts of things, saying that they will be offering them later, as qadaa. It is to such an attitude that I referred when I stated that there is no such a thing as qadaa.
Nagging Mistakes
Q. Sometimes after having committed a mistake that upsets a relative or a friend we recognize that we are to blame for the wrong that had taken place. However, despite our apology and the other person’s acceptance of our apology and assurances that the matter is over, we still experience a sense of guilt. How best to remove this sense that could sometimes be very troublesome?
M. I. Qadeer
A. The best thing to do in these cases is to try to rectify the mistake by doing a good turn for the person affected by it. If it has resulted in a material effect, then a gift of similar or better value could go a long way toward removing all lingering doubts. If it is a mental or abstract negative effect, then you may do something that assures the other person that he is dear to you and that you really care for what serves his interests. This could be by providing advice, or a gesture of esteem, or anything that suggests that you bear him nothing but good. The Prophet says: “Follow a bad deed by a good one, so that the latter would erase it.”
Timing of Death and Destiny
Q. Is it true that people who die at any time between Asr on Thursday and Maghrib on Friday are spared the torment in the grave? What does this time signify?
A. Ahmad
A. In as much as a death time, this period has no significance whatsoever. It is not true that those who die within this time range are spared anything. Those who receive torment in the grave are not punished because of the time at which they died, nor does the time of their deaths signify anything for the ones exempted from such torment. What determines punishment after death is a person’s deeds. And what determines reward is again one’s deeds, in addition to God’s grace.
Prize Bonds
Q. In my home country, banks offer prize bonds for savers, where a draw is made every 2-3 months, and prizes are given. Is this permissible in Islam?
M. Akram
A. You have not given me enough information about the scheme to enable me to formulate an idea of its working. Therefore, I cannot tell you whether this scheme is acceptable or not from the Islamic point of view. You need to supply me with full information before I can give you an answer. However, suppose that the bonds that are entered in the draw for prizes lose their value, then the scheme would be a sort of lottery, which is not permissible in Islam. On the other hand, if the prizes are purely voluntary and involve no cost for the investor, the prizes scheme becomes permissible. However, we still need to look at the details before we give a full verdict.
Pre-Recording Our Deeds
Q. According to an authentic Hadith, an angel writes a human being’s age, action, and happiness or otherwise when that human being is still an embryo in the womb. What is written is final. So, why does God punish those who do wrong deeds when they cannot avert them?
A. Ashhar
A. We discussed this question many times in Arab News in the past. The Hadith relates to God’s knowledge, not to man’s will. God certainly knows everything that takes place in the universe long before it happens. What we have to understand is that God’s knowledge is perfect and not subject to events. Nothing can be added to it as a result of an event of any type. To Him, the concept of time is different from ours, because our sense of time is based on the succession of day and night, as this succession makes us aware of passing days, weeks, months and years. To God, time is totally different. As you know, a day on another planet is different from our Earth days. The differences between planets in the same solar system are huge. But there are countless suns and solar systems, each has its own day with different durations between planets and solar systems.
This means that time differs from one place to another in the universe. To God, who is not limited by space, time has no effect. Hence, we say that He knows all things before they take place.
The Hadith to which you refer states: “The creation of each one of you is brought together in his mother’s belly for forty days in the form of seed, then he is a clot of blood for a like period, then a morsel of flesh for a like period, then an angel is sent to him who is commanded to write four matters: his means of livelihood, his life span, his actions and whether happy or unhappy...” (Related by Al-Bukahri and Muslim). There are several versions of this Hadith, with slight variations.
The Hadith does not say that a human being’s actions are predetermined and inevitable. It simply says that they are recorded, because God knows them in advance. But we must not forget that God has given us a free will and free choice. We feel this all the time. It is you who decide to take any action you are contemplating. You do not feel that there is a force driving you in a certain direction. Take the example of your writing to us. You heard this Hadith and it created some questions in your mind. You sat down at your computer and sent us your question by e-mail. You could have sent it by letter, or not bothered at all. It is all your choice. Similarly, the editor decided on how to answer, and his decision is made by his will, which is free and unencumbered. Hence, he is accountable to the editor in chief, and accountable to God for what he writes in answer.
Covering One’s Feet
Q. I have a friend who has some problems in her legs that makes it painful for her to walk if she is wearing socks. The problem is aggravated in hot weather. Is it obligatory for a Muslim woman to wear socks or stockings, even when the climate is very hot?
M. Cvejic
A. Islam does not require anyone to bear any hardship in meeting its obligations. When a person finds a requirement causing him or her undue difficulty, concession becomes applicable.
It is a rule of Islamic law that “when conditions are too tight, relaxation becomes due.” This means that if people find it too hard to attend to a particular duty in a certain way, relaxation of the rules is operated so as to give them a more comfortable way to attend to their duty.
I have repeatedly said in these columns that Islam does not prescribe a particular type of dress for men or women. It outlines certain requirements, and when these are met, any type of clothes that meets them is acceptable. Hence, you find Muslim women in different countries wear different types and styles, but they all meet the basic requirements.
This lady finds it painful to walk wearing socks. Hence, she must not wear them. Islam does not require anyone to wear socks or indeed any particular type of clothes. She can easily wear some long dress or pants to cover all her legs and still walk comfortably.
Any woman who is uncomfortable wearing socks, particularly in the summer in a very hot climate like ours, can do the same. This is done by most people in tropical countries.
Zakah Liability
Q. Could you please explain the zakah liability of a person who one year after earning enough to be a zakah payer paid out his zakah. After that, he used half of his savings to buy a piece of land to build a house for his residence. By the same time the following year he will have only about half the money he had on his zakah date, in addition to the land. What will his zakah liability be?
M. Sirajuddin
A. In order to make the question simpler, let us assume that the person concerned had in Ramadan of year 1 only enough to make him a zakah payer. This means that he had above what he needed for his living, an amount equal to the value of 85 grams of gold. Let us assume that this amount is about SR3,000. This is the threshold of zakah, which makes a person a zakah payer. In Ramadan of year 2, his savings amounted to SR20,000.
He pays zakah on all this amount at the rate of 2.5 percent. Now, two months later, he takes out something like SR12,000 to buy a plot of land where he intends to build a house for his family’s residence. He continues to save and in Ramadan of year 3, his savings amount to, say, SR10,000. He is above the threshold of zakah. So he pays his zakah on the amount of savings, i.e. SR10,000 only, because the land is intended for building house.
If we assume that he used the money for another purpose, he may still need to pay zakah for it. Suppose that he went into business partnership and paid this amount to buy merchandise. On his zakah date, he calculates the value of the goods he owns and includes it in his zakah.
Although in both cases the man did not have more than SR10,000 in cash, the difference is due to the nature of ownership in both cases. Commercial commodities are liable to zakah while a house is not. Had the land he bought been intended for re-sale at a profit, it would have counted as a commercial commodity and zakah should be paid on its value on the date his zakah becomes due.
