Letters to the Editor

Q: I have found the answer to a question on Talaaq on the Islamic Voice website, (http://islamicvoice.com/islamicvoice/validity-of-three-talaq-in-one-go/). The answer is bit confusing: The`Ulama say something different whereas Islamic Voice has answered completely differently – though with Qur’anic references.Kindly clarify who is correct… The question was:

“I would like to know if triple talaq given in one sitting makes the marriage (nikah) null and void. Secondly, let me know if the woman who is given talaq can stay with this person who has pronounced talaq in writing but is not ready to accept this injunction of Allah.”(AnjumParveen, Allahabad).

Abdullah,

Mumbai

YMD

We have not reproduced the answer given by Islamic voice because it is does not appear to be from a Faqih. In fact, it appears that it is not even from a scholar. More.It is apparently not from a secular scholar either. It flouts all logic, divides Islam into the modern and traditional, and consigns those traditional opinions that do not appease the modern Muslim into the dustbin. There is good reason that the door of Ijtihad was closed upin the fourth Islamic century, allowing –thereonward – only doors of “Furu`aat” open for latter-day “Mujtahideen fi al-furu’“. Accordingly, all modern-day Mujtahideen are referred to as “Regional Mujtahideen fi al-furu’” by the scholars of repute,who have rejected all such rulings of theirs as illegal, in which they have crossed their bounds.

If you read the interpretations of the Torah, as done by their Rabbis, and the way ‘law’ is extracted, you are immediately filled with awe at how intelligently the Mujtahids of the past have extracted the Islamic law from the Qur’an and Sunnah. After Allah’s own guidance, we have been lucky to have had such legal experts. To reject them, is to be idiotic.

This is one of the reasons why the modern-day self-appointed Mujtahids are rejected when they cross their bounds. If the scholars are not tamed, the Ummah cannot be tamed. If scholars break out of bounds, the Ummah cannot be blamed for flouting the rules and running into the legal turmoil in which Judeo-Christian scholars have run into.

At all events, you should strictly follow the Shari`ah as extracted from the Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma` of the Companions and Qiyas: it either be Hanafiyy, Shafe`i, Hanbaliyy or Malikiyy. (The Ahl al-Hadith do not have any coded Fiqh beyond rulings for rituals, i.e. `Ibadaat.They depend on one of the four above in non-ritual matters, i.e. Mu`amalaat. For example, on Hanbaliyysystem in Saudi Arabia, Malikiyy in United Arab Emirates, etc.).

Thus, in this case of yours, you may seek the opinion of a Mufti proper of the school you belong to.

As for the husband refusing to let the wife live with him for the stipulated period after the pronouncement of a single Talaq, it is not mandatory, so long as he pays the maintenance cost of the period, matters are within the law.

Q: In response to the question about terrorist organizations in India, Pakistan and the whole world, you have totally denied the existence of any terrorist organization anywhere.

YMD

You ought to have named a few Muslim terrorist organizations, with non-governmental sources (who have access to secret service records and files), providing the evidences. For example, the 9/11 episode: Name a Muslim terrorist organization, presenting non-governmental investigating agencies or individuals (Muslim or non-Muslim), which did it. Send your findingsto us, and to the “9/11 Truth” organization which represents qualified and experienced architects, structural engineers, building designers and pre-eminent scientists numbering a mere 250. Spending 250 hours a month before the Satanic organ, the TV channel, produces, by the millions, men and women of such calibre as which the Qur’an calls, “The deaf, the dumb and the blind.” This is the first and lightest consequence of listening to the Fussaq, despite Qur’anic prohibition. Other consequences can follow.

Q: Your attitude is not only highly deplorable but alsocondemnable. You are simply passing the buck on to secret agencies or foreign elements supposedly enemies of Muslims. This is clearly not only sympathising with terrorists but supporting them.

YMD

Since you have not been able to identify the terrorists, you are unable to differentiate between the victims and the assailants.

Q: This is exactly in line with the standard attitude and practice of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind…blaming America, Israel, Mossad and media for anything and everything. Please do not quote Qur’anic verses to defend the terrorists. True! Qur’an doesn’t subscribe for terrorism, but who says terrorist are followers of Qur’an.Dare you say that all those who indulge in blood-bath are jahannamies. Please note that Islam does not need any cleansing but Muslims need.

YMD

If you compared – globally –Muslim role in terrorism with those of others, they turn out to be, on the contrary, exemplary citizens of every country. Get the statistics out, from governmental records, and not the outpourings of the propaganda machineries, the electronic and print media.

At best, there is no Islamic terrorism or Muslim terrorism. We cannot absolve all, nor pile up blames on anyone. This is because, free inquiries conducted, concerning terrorist acts, by governments and individuals, have revealed organs and organizations different from the Media presents. The Media today, is not the reporter of lies, but is manufacturer of lies. None, absolutely none, is trustworthy. It is largely owned by those who have for several reasons, decided on tarnishing the image of Islam and Muslims. The lower staff have simply to implement the policies as given from the owners, or, lose their job. That being the case, we do not wish to absolve any, nor, recriminate any. The Qur’an prohibits us from saying what we have no knowledge. A hadith says that it is enough for a man to lie that he should say, “People say so and so.”

Regretfully, you are hopelessly informed. You would do well to delve deeper into the issue, and specifically read about the role of Israel, USA, Britain, and other Western countries, plus Shi`ah activism. Look also into the reason why some thinkers believe that the USA has become a terrorist country. It might take you through a study of 2-3 years, but – if you care – you will emerge with a better state of mind, and who knows, of the soul.

In the meantime, instead of writing to Muslim journals, about Muslim terrorism, you should start a campaign to force the governments to conduct an inquiry (by former judges) into the contents of the book, “Who Killed Karkare?”

Q: Two Urdu couplets for you people…supporters and sympathisers of terrorists.                     

YMD

As if correction of your English was not enough (that stole away half an hour of our time) that you should add to us the burden of checking your Urdu also. So,being dutiful to ourselves, we deleted the couplets.

Q:Your magazine is a patentJamaat-e-Islami magazine but in disguise like so many in Delhi.

Khalid Khan,
On Email

YMD

We are sorry (on your behalf)that you do not belong to Jamat-e-Islami. You might try to get out of this sorry situation.

As for us, we do not fire from another’s shoulder, nor does the Jamat-e-Islami plays any back-door games. All their activities are conducted in open. The Qur’an disapproves of proxy acts by advising us to “come to the houses by their front doors.” (2: 189)

Q: What is the meaning ofthe hadith that Qur’an has a Zahir and a Batin?

AfaqHussain,
On Email

YMD

There are a variety of opinions, the most commonly accepted being: Zahir of the Qur’an is that whose meaning is apparent, understood by all and sundry who know Arabic, requiring no further explanation; while the Batin is that which requires elaboration and interpretation, by those who are qualified with a deeper and wider understanding of the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as have an intellectual insight, accompanied by good practice.

Some Sufis offer a different opinion, butMujaddid Alf-Thani emphasizes that without mastering the meaning of the Batini as elaborated above, any so-called “Batini” meaning is highly speculative, esoteric, and questionable, if not excommunicable.

Q: I am a CA student working in CA firm, where I will be go for assignment to bank, or on assignment given by bank to our firm. I would like to know whether my income is halal or haram.

Hassan Damudi,
On Email

YMD

We do not understand what you mean by “I’ll be..” If this expresses future possibility, then avoid it. If you are doing it now, then, talk to your bosses and beg excuse. If they insist you must, then, look for another job.

Q: I was looking for some clarity on what those who pray behind the Imam in a congregation recite. The Sana and the recitations of the ruku/sujud/julus are, of course, compulsory for all to recite for themselves.

YMD

Reciting “Thana” is not wajib.

Q: What about Surah Fatiha and the subsequent part of the Qur’an that’s read out in every Rak’ah? Does the ruling change for the one who prays behind when the Imam recites them out loud (like the first tworak’ahs of Isha) and when he’s reciting to him (the last tworak’ahs of Isha)?

Syed Mustafa Hashmi,
On Email

YMD

Recitation of Surah al-Fatiha followed by Qira’atu al-Qur’an is necessary for an individual doing prayer independently, and not wajib behind an Imam.

Q: What about those who join the prayer late (say when the second rak’ah of Isha just started)?

YMD

The rules remain.

You need to get a book dealing with rulings on Prayers.

Q: Is playing chess and carrom haram in Islam?

Faisal Izhar,
On Email

YMD

Chess is disallowed, but carom (which is played on a board with holes at corners to receive little circular wooden pellets) is not disallowed.

Q: My name is Tenisha Mayfield and I believe Islam is the way. In Islam, I am considered a non-believer. I want to take Shahada, but do I have to take Shahada in front of a community to say I am a Muslim?

YMD

You are a Muslim the day Allah entered your heart. Anyone who says he or she is a Muslim, is a Muslim. Declaring Shahadah before a religious authority is for religious/secular official purposes, for example, burial in a Muslim graveyard, or for application of inheritance rules, etc.

Q: Iam married to a Muslim (an ‘on and off’ practicing person) and we have five girls. Are they Muslim because of him? Or do they have to take Shahadah?

YMD

They are Muslim because of Allah.

Every child is born on Nature, i.e. a Muslim. From Islamic legal point of view, a child’s official religion is that of one of its two parents – he or she–who holds a superior religion. To explain, if one of the parents (father or mother) is a Muslim, the child’s religion is Islam. If, out of the two parents, one of them is a Christian, while the other parent is say, pagan, then, the children of the two are Christian.

So, there is no need for your children to be officially Islamized. But, you should explain to them the gift of Allah for accepting them as Muslims.

Q: My son is ten years of age.Does he have to take Shahadah as well? My current husband is not his father.

Tenisha,
On Email

YMD

Following the rule stated above, he too is a Muslim because you are a Muslim. If you were not a Muslim at the time he was born, nor his father was, then, you simply have to tell him that he is a Muslim. There is no need for a formal Shahadah, but rather he must grow to become a conscientious Muslim.