Letters to the Editor
Q: I really like this digest and particularly the children’s column. I’ve a question for which I want this answer as soon as possible. Is Zakath applicable to diamonds? Please answer.
Faisal Izhar,
On Email
YMD
If diamonds, pearls and other such precious stones are not a business commodity, then, Zakah is not applicable to them.
Q: Someone gifted me the magazine, Young Muslim Digest. It was of December 2015. I read it and alhamdulillah, it was very good. But, there was an objectionable thing in the magazine. On the back cover, there was an advertisement of Beary’s Institute of Technology with a photograph, in which boys and girls were sitting and standing together in attractive style.
YMD
We cannot notice any ‘attractive style’ in the photograph.
Q: The questions that rise in my mind are: Are such photographs permissible in Islam?
YMD
They are not.
Q: Is co-education lawful in Islam?
YMD
Yes, it is allowed in Islam, if governed by segregation policies.
Q: The photograph indicates that you support this idea?
YMD
We do not own the college, and we do not support the idea.
Q: Is it suitable to carry such advertisement for an Islamic Digest?
YMD
It is not.
Question: Please reply!
YMD
If you have to print a magazine, for a people who are not serious about their religion, to whom the existence or non-existence of an Islamic magazine is not a question that interests them, then the magazine has a choice: make compromises to earn some peanuts and keep crawling, or close down.
Q: I shall wait for your answer.
Muhammad Azhar,
On Email
YMD
If your answer is to the effect: “Stop worrying about finance. Me and my friends shall provide you with enough finance for next five years, so that you can stop making compromises,” – if your answer would be to this effect, then, we too shall await your answer.
Q: I happen to get hold of the January magazine and I am reading it for the first time.
YMD
This magazine is being published since 40 years, but you have just come to know about it and have just happened to read it for the first time. This shows how well it is received by the 800 million Indian Muslims.
That is also the fate of many, or all, Islamic magazines.
Q: Overall content of the magazine looked to be good but I have concern on the tone of the response to the letters. For instance, “we have learnt that wishing without readiness to pay” kind of response when the reader has not mentioned anything on not being ready to pay is uncalled for.
Junaid P K,
On Email
YMD
That “kind of response” was meant to awaken the reader to certain realities – realities that have shackled the Ummah from moving forward.
We do not know how he reacted, but, and here is another unlikeable tone: you do not seem to have been reminded of the realities.
As for our policy in this regard, early on, we had to choose between ‘pampering’ and ‘hit them where it hurts to bring them out of their stupor.’ To the disappointment of many, we chose the latter.
Q: What should we do about the interest we get from the money in our bank account?
Faiz Khalid,
On Email
YMD
The answer will depend on the conditions prevailing in a country. If Muslims of a region face a war situation, not declared by them, nor is a resurrection by them, then they cannot charge interests for loans they make, nor accept through their bank savings. If the situation is opposite of the above, they may accept interests, but not of bank run by Muslims.
However, a safe line is not to accept any interest. But if the situation is in-between, then one may accept bank interests and then spend out on the poor – of any religious calling.
Q: In Qur’an and Hadith, it was mentioned about the responsibilities of parents towards their children and children’s responsibilities towards their parents. I shall be glad to know whether anywhere it was mentioned about the responsibilities of in-laws towards their son-in-law and daughter in-law and vice versa.
A. Rahiman,
On Email
YMD
Terms such as Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, etc. have been imported into the sub-continent from the English, along with some wrong conceptions. While the English have thrown overboard the concepts attached to the words, and then the words themselves, Muslims who imported them – having thrown overboard their own words and concepts attached to them – are now stuck with these archaic words and their concepts.
To add salt to injury, they imported customs, social laws, and practices from a third source to attach to the imported words. Now they have a potpourri in their hands. And the potpourri is so heavy that they stagger when they walk – if ever they walk. (Most of the times they are sleeping).
We have written in these pages more than once – from Islamic perspective – that no fatherhood is attached to the word Father-in-law or the related terms. A ‘daughter-in-law’ is no daughter, and the ‘in-law’ is not ‘Islamic law.’
A woman has absolutely no ‘legally-bounded’ duties or obligations of any kind toward the parents of her husband, nor is a man has any ‘legally-bounded’ duties or obligations of any kind toward his wife’s parents. At best each of the husband and wife have moral bindings towards each other’s parents. And moral obligations are always optional, boundary-less, indescribable, and undefinable. The situation determines them.
It is the children, males and females, who are ‘legally’ responsible for their parents. The rights of parents are greater than their children’s rights. But of their children’s spouses, there are none.
If, for instance, a person is in his advanced years, and living with the family of one of his sons, (which can be only a socio-economic arrangement), it is his son and his children who should look after his well-being. But, such duties are not limited to the son he is living with. They extend to every of his other sons and daughters. In a situation where the son or his children are not in a position to serve his parents in their extreme old-age, disability, or sickness, the duties shift to his brothers, as an obligation.
Thus, a man or woman, is financially and socially insured from as many directions as he has children and those related by blood. (No other social system – may Allah not destine them to prosper – allows this except Islamic).
In contrast, his son’s wife has no responsibility upon her. Any duty then, cannot be imposed on her. She might, if she so wills, without any pressure on her, render some service to him, and she will be earning special rewards for such service, stored for her in the Afterlife.
Q: We are few Muslim guys who started an online grocery firm in Bangalore and also got tied up with IBA Halal Care which deals with Halal and Wadu Friendly cosmetic product. These products are approved by Halal India Organisation and authentication already checked. We seek your support to reach to our Muslim brothers and sister so that they can use these products. We also cater to free home delivery for all the grocery, home needs and office stationery in a discounted price.
Sharique
Grocery Whizz Team, Bangalore
Mobile: 91-9844052832
Email: grocerywhizz@gmail.com
YMD
The placement of your communication here is in support of your attempt to earn Halal income. It does not approve or disapprove of your price, quality, or delivery policies.
