Part 13

The etiquette of war in Islam includes the following points: those fighting cannot betray their trusts, women and children are not to be killed if they are not combatants, the fighters are to be free of arrogance and deceit, they should not wish to have to face the enemy, they should supplicate for victory and assistance from Allah, such as by saying, “O Allah, revealer of the book, mover of the clouds, dispenser of the clans, vanquish them and support us against them.”

It is forbidden to flee from the fighting except under two circumstances: (1) as a way of fending off the fighting or (2) as a way of joining back with the troops.

The captives of war are divided into two categories:

(2) Fighting men for whom the leader has three choices: set them free, ransom them or kill them.

The leader must review the troops as they set out. He must keep them from deserting or causing dissent. The leader should not seek any assistance from disbelievers except in cases of dire necessity. He should prepare the provisions and travel with the army in a kind manner. He should seek the best place for them to camp and he should prevent the army from committing any evil or sins. He should speak to them in a way that will strengthen their conviction and make them seek martyrdom. He should order them to be patient. He should divide up the army and appoint specialists and guards over them. He should also send spies out to check on the enemy. He should expel any spies for the enemy from the troops. He should consult the religious and intelligent people concerning the matters of jihad.

The army should obey their leader and be patient with him. It is not allowed for them to fight except by his permission, unless they have been hit by a surprise attack and they fear the spread of harm. If the enemy requests a truce or if the fighting is during the sacred months, the Muslims should then sign a truce.

This part shall be comprised of the following chapters: Chapter One: Business Transactions

This chapter is comprised of an introduction and the following two topics:

Topic 1: The essential components and conditions of a business transaction;

Bai’ (@z) is the verbal noun of baa’. It is the exchange of wealth for wealth or the giving of one item in exchange for something else in its place.

From a legal point of view, buying and selling refers to a contract involving an exchange of wealth which results in the permanent ownership of an item or a usufruct and which is not done for the sake of getting closer to Allah.

Legal buying and selling is permissible, as the Book, sunnah, consensus and reasoning all indicate its permissibility.

Since money, merchandise and goods are distributed among people in general and there is a need for humans to have what is in the hands of their associates who will not sacrifice it without something in exchange, there is a strong

need for the permissibility of buying, selling and meeting one’s goals. For these reasons, Allah has permitted buying and selling to fulfill those benefits and needs.

Topic One: The Essential Components and Conditions for Buying and Selling

(1) The form it takes, consisting of an offer and acceptance.

(2) The two who take part in the transaction, the buyer and the seller.

(3) The object of the contract: the price and what the price is being used to purchase.

The form of the transaction refers to the offer and acceptance. It is an indication of approval and gladness with the transaction. The seller might say, “I sell this or give this to you or put this in your possession for such and such a price.” The buyer may say, “I then buy this or possess this or purchase this or accept this,” and so on. A transaction is also valid by a [clear, well-known] action by one of the two parties or by both parties.

If people speak over the phone, this is considered a contractual meeting. It ends with the end of the phone conversation. This is because customary practices are defining tules concerning the beginning or ending of a contractual meeting.

In order for a business transaction to be sound and valid, the following seven conditions must be met:

(1) Both the buyer and the seller, or their representatives, must approve of the transaction. ©

(2) It must be the case that both of them are allowed to enter into a transaction, such that they are both free, legally capable and competent.

(3) The merchandise that is being sold must be something whose usufruct is permissible. It is not allowed to sell something that has no [legal] benefit to them and it is not allowed to sell something whose benefit is forbidden, such as alcohol or pork. Similarly, it is not allowed to sell something that is only permissible in cases of necessity, such as carrion.

(4) The seller must own what he is selling or have permission to sell it at the time of the contract.

(5) The item sold must be known by its description or by being seen.

(7) The thing being sold must be something that the seller is able to hand over to the buyer; it is not allowed to sell the street or birds flying the sky and so forth.

Stipulations in the contract are of two types: sound and binding or illegal and voiding of the contract.

Sound stipulations include the stipulation to delay all or part of the payment or a stipulation for collateral or specific guarantee. That is for the benefit of the contract itself. Another example is the condition of a specific quality in the transaction. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said,

reese de O polnell “The Muslims abide by their stipulations.” Recorded by Ahmad and Abu Dawood.! It is also acceptable for the seller to stipulate upon the buyer that he will use the usufruct of what he is selling for a specified period of time, such as remaining to live in a house for one month.

The invalid conditions include: conditions that are invalid and void the contract, such as a condition involving two contracts in one, for example, an advanced payment combined with a loan, a sale with a lease and so forth. Some non-valid conditions do not void the contract, only the condition itself is considered not valid, such as the condition that guarantees that an investment will not lose money or something in which someone, in reality, neither sells the item nor gives it away. These conditions are not valid unless they are done for a particular benefit [consistent with the overall purpose of a contract], in which case they are sound.

" According to al-Albaani, this hadith is sabtb, See al-Albaani, Sabeeh al-Jaami, vol. 2, p. 1138—JZ

Islam permits every sale that produces good and blessings. It forbids every transaction that contains aspects of ignorance, great risk or harm to the people in the marketplace or causes harsh feelings in the heart. Such dealings bring about hatred, disputes and fighting. These prohibited types of transactions include the following:

(1) al-Mulaamasah: This is when the seller tells the buyer, for example, “Any garment you touched is yours for such and such.” This type of sale is not valid because it involves ignorance [concerning which garment is going to be bought] and risk.

(2) al-Munaabidhah: This is where the seller tells the buyer, “Any garment you fling to me is yours for such and such price.” Again, this type of sale is not valid because of the existence of ignorance and risk.

(3) Bai al-Hasaah: This is where one says, for example, “Throw this pebble and whatever merchandise it lands on is yours for such and such price.” Again, this type of sale is not valid due to the ignorance and risk involved.

(4) Bai al-Najash: This is where a person bids up the price on something without having the intention to buy it. This type of sale is forbidden because it is a type of deception and tricking of the buyer.

(5) Having two sales in one sale: This is, for example, when one person says to another, “I sell you this on the condition that you sell that to me,” or, “on the condition that you also buy that from me.” Another example is where the person says, “I will sell this to you for ten dollars right now or twenty over time,” and then they part from one another without stating which one they agree to. This kind of sale is not valid. This is because the second sale is conditional on the

first and because the price of the second has not been established.

(6) A_ city-dweller selling to a bedouin [outside of the city]: This is the sale wherein the seller sells the item fora price greater than its daily price [in the city while the bedouin is unaware of that fact].

(7) A brother selling against his brother in Islam: For example, he says to someone who is about to buy something for ten dollars from someone else, “I can sell the same to you for nine.”

(8) Selling merchandise before one actually takes possession of it.

(9) Bai al-Eenah: This is where a person buys something from somebody else on credit and then sells it back to him for a lower cash price.

(10) Buying or selling after the second cal! to prayer for the Friday Prayer for the one who is obliged to attend the Friday Prayer.

This chapter is composed of an introduction and the following three topics:

Topic 2: The doors that Islam opens that frees one from riba;

Topic 3: Interest paid out by banks and its status.

Lexically, riba (4.)) means an addition or an increase. One says, “rabaa al-maal,” if the wealth increased or grew. It is used in a general sense to refer to any transaction which is forbidden.

In the terminology of the jurists, riba refers to an increase in particular things or a contract to exchange something particular but not for its known equivalent according to the criteria of the law at the time of the contract or with a delay in the exchange of both or either of them.

Islam forbids riba due to the following reasons: (1) There is no relation between the effort put out and the return as the one who lends money on interest does not

expend any effort or work nor does he bear any risk, with respect to what he will earn and what he will own of gain.

(2) The society’s economy will be depressed due to the lender’s loitering and not working. They will be content with resting and laziness as they look forward to their profits from their interest and the hardships that they put on the debtors due to the interest requirements.

(3) The morale of the society will also collapse as there is no cooperation between its members; this will definitely lead to the breaking up of society and the spreading of rapaciousness and selfishness instead of sacrifice, love and giving to others.

(4) The society will be divided into disputing classes, a class of exploiters and rulers over capital and a class of poor and oppressed whose efforts and weariness will be exploited without due right.

According to most scholars, riba is of two types:

(1) Riba al-naseeah: Al-naseeah means delay and deferment. Riba al-naseeah is an increased amount in one of the exchanged items for a delay in the payment for the item.

(2) Riba al-fadhl: Lexically, al-fadhl means the opposite of decrease or shortage. So riba al-fadhl is an addition in the amount of one of the two exchanged items which are of the same genus or class— of those items for which riba al-fadhl applies, such as gold in exchange for more

gold or wheat in exchange for more wheat. This is also known as riba al-bai’ (riba of buying and selling) and al-riba al-khafi (the hidden riba).

The Shafi’ees add a third category known as riba alyad wherein taking possession of one or both of the exchanged

items is deferred. Others add a fourth type known as riba algardh wherein a loan is given but it is stipulated that the creditor will receive some other benefit [more than simply receiving his money back].

In reality, those two categories do not fall outside of the realm of the two categories stated above.

Contemporary economists divide interest into [that accruing from] consumption loans and [that accruing from] production loans.

(1) Interest on consumption loans is that additional money paid back on a loan that is used to purchase consumption needs such as food, drink, medicine and so forth.

(2) Interest on production loans is that paid back on loans used for investment purposes such as manufacturing, farming or specific business purposes.

(1) Compound interest: This is what makes the percentage of interest large.

(2) Simple interest: This is wherein the interest rate is low.!

Islam’s prohibition of interest includes any kind of dealing with it, regardless of whether it is riba fadhl or riba naseeah or if the interest amount is large or small or if it is interest on a consumption loan or a production loan. All of those varieties fall under the wording of prohibition in Allah’s