Part 13

There are similar cases as well. If an enemy prevented a person from throwing the pebbles and he was not able to do so until he returns to Mecca, or prevents him from standing at ~Arafah until the night, or from performing the Farewell circumambulation, he is not be blamed at all.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) did not make the Farewell circumambulation obligatory on menstruating women. If a scholar said that ritual purity is a pillar and condition for circumambulation, it is not more important than prayer. It well known. that the conditions of prayer are not due because of the inability to do them. It is much more suitable to apply this rule on the conditions of circumambulation.

This is my opinion in this issue. But for the people’s dire

need for it, I would have never talked about it, because | have not found any scholar who handled this matter. Exerting one’s efforts to reach a legal ruling in case of necessity is commanded by Allah. If I had reached a right ruling, it is the very same judgment of Allah and His Messenger, and all praise be to Allah. If it is wrong, it is my own and Satan insinuated it to me, and Allah and His Messenger are not responsible for it, even if I am absolved because of such error. Allah knows best. All praise be to Allah alone. May Allah have peace on Muhammad and his family.

Q: A woman menstruated before the Ifadah circumambulation and she has not become pure till the pilgrims’ departure. She can not stay alone until she is pure. Is it permissible for her to circumambulate in this state out of necessity?

If it is permissible, is she entitled to slaughter an animal? Is it desirable for her to wash herself before circumambulation? When a woman knows that she will not be pure until the pilgrims’ departure and she can not stay after that, is Hajj still obligatory on her?

If it is not, is it desirable for her to perform circumambulation? Please tell us about the relevant ruling, may Allah grant you the nest reward.

A: All praise be to Allah. There are two famous opinions for scholars regarding ritual purity whether it is a condition of sound circumambulation.

First: It is a condition according to Malik, Shafi I and

Ahmed in a narration.

Second: It is not a condition according to Abu Hanifah and Ahmed in the other narration.

According to the latter’s opinion, if one circumambulated while he is ina state of minor or major ritual impurity or while there are impurities on his body, _ his circumambulation is valid but he should slaughter an animal.

Yet, there is disagreement among Ahmed’s followers whether this is a general rule applicable to whoever forgets that he is ritually impure or not. Abu Hanifah believes that such animal is a camel if the woman was menstruating or in a state of major ritual impurity. When a woman can not circumambulate except when she is menstruating, it is permissible for her to do so, because Hajj is obligatory on her. No scholar has ever said that a menstruating woman is not entitled to perform it. It is not legal that obligatory acts become undue once a person is unable to perform some of them just like when a person is unable to perform ablution for prayer.

From Endowment to Marriage

Is it permissible to build a second floor over a Mihrab (altar)?

Q: An inquiry was made concerning building a second floor over a Mihrab to accommodate the Imam or anyone who takes care of the place, provided that no harm may be incurred because of such building?

A: It is permissible to build a second floor over the Mihrab that is built for purposes other than observing the five daily prayers. As for the mosque in which the regular five prayers are observed, there is a difference among jurists concerning building a second floor on it.

Assigning a will or an endowment for one's neighbors

Q: What is the judgment if a person assigns a will or an endowment for his neighbors without specifying any of them?

A: If no certain persons are specified by the term "neighbors", nor the deceased had a custom to call certain persons as his "neighbors" the juristic definition, which states that one's neighbors include forty houses to his right and forty to his left, is to be applied. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The neighbors are forty from hither (the right side) and forty from thither (the left side). By whom in Whose Hand is my soul, none of you will have a perfect faith unless his neighbor is safe from his

mischieves." Allah knows best.

Q: What is the judgment of one who makes a graveyard as an endowment on the condition that an unmarried reciter of the Holy Quran be appointed for it. Can this endowment be effective, even when the reciter is married?

A: This condition is null and void. An unmarried man is even more worthy to this appointment than the single person, should they are equally qualified. The condition of being single does not serve a legal purpose here.

Is it permissible to privilege some of the children with a portion of the estate to the

exclusion of others? Is it permissible to give to relatives from the estate

Q: A man assigned an endowment for a certain number of women, widows and orphans and conditioned that he should administer the affairs of such endowment in his iifetime, and that one of his eligible children, male or female, should succeed him after his death. As some of the children of the owner of the endowment are needy, the administrator of the endowment wants to privilege those needy children by giving them greater portion than the rest. Is this permissible?

A: If all the beneficiaries of an endowment is equally needy, preference is given to the relatives of the owner of the endowment. The Prophet said: “The (reward of) charity you give to Muslims is (ony the reward of)a charity. However, the (reward of) charity that you give to your relatives is (the reward of) charity and maintaining of the ties of kinship." Thus there is a Prophetic command, either compulsory or recommendatory, that one should bequeath for some of his relatives who are not entitled to

A woman dwelling next door to a group of men and a man dwelling next door to a group or women

Q: An accommodation is assigned for a group of ten poor persons. This accommodation includes an upstairs room inhabited by a single woman, for whom the owner of the endowment did not assign a place in it. She is not a relative of the deceased either. There is a main gate that by closing

which both the accommodation and the upstairs room are not seen. Is it permissible that such woman live in the neighborhood of these poor people?

A: If the owner of the endowment assigned it for married or unmarried men only, she should not be admitted to it, in order to fulfill the condition of the donator. In all cases, single women are not permitted to dwell in the neighborhood of men and vise versa, in accordance to the precepts of Islamic Shariah. Allah knows best.

Assigning an endowment for the needy relatives of the deceased

Q: A woman assigned an endowment that should be distributed among the reciters of Quran on her grave. What remains should be spent on the poor, or for other charitable purposes. She had a maternal uncle who became bankrupt and could work no more. The administrator of the endowment refused to pay hima sum to support him for living. Is it permissible to oblige the administrator to give the deceased's uncle preference to others with regard to the right to receive money for his living?

A: The needy relatives of the deceased are more rightful to his endowment than any other equally needy persons.

Assigning the revenue of endowments for shrouding the poor deceased

Q: An endowment, which accrues annual revenues, is assigned for covering the expenses of shrouding the poor deceased. Is it permissible to spend the revenue in charity? Are the poor relatives of the owner of the endowment entitled to it?

A: If there is a surplus after covering the expenses of shrouds, the surplus should be spent for the interests of Muslims. If there are poor relatives of the donor, they are more rightful to it than others. Allah knows best.

Gift and gratuity Charity and present

Q: Which is better, a charity or a present?

A: To. start with, a charity is what is given for the sake of Allah to nonspecific persons and for no certain worldly purpose.

As for a present, it is given to honor some person therewith, either due to a cordial relation, friendship or in order to attain a certain interest.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) used to accept presents and give presents in return for them, in order to be free from indebtedness to others. He did not accept charity, which is a means of purifying the properties of people and themselves from sins. For this, as well as other reasons, the Prophet (peace be upon him) did not accept charity.

Based on this, charity is better, except when present is preferred for a certain reason, such as the case when the present is given to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his life. The present is also preferred if given to a relative as a means of strengthening the ties of kinship, or to a fellow Muslim. In such instances a present may be better than a charity.

Q: Is it permissible to assign an undefined thing as a gift, such as the case when a person offers the next year's fruits of a tree to a person as a gift? Can the former return in his gift?

A: The scholars differed over the undefined gift. Imam

Malik claimed that it is permissible. He even made it permissible that one may grant something that he will inherit later on to another, without knowing its amount. He further claimed that it is permissible that one grants a portion of a house to another without telling him the area of such portion. According to Imam Malik, it is also

permissible to grant something not found yet at the time of giving the grant, such as granting fruits that will grow later on at the current year or during the coming ten years.

Al-Shafi'i, on the other hand, did not approve of this, nor did Abu Hanifah and Ahmad, according to the famous opinions of their schools.