Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No. (316): "Proposed Amendments to the Rights of the Child Law"

Date Added : 03-01-2023

 

Resolution No.(316): "Proposed Amendments to the Rights of the Child Law"

 

Date: (10 Safar, 1444 AH), corresponding to (6/9/2022 AD).

 

Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

In its thirteenth meeting held on the above date, the Board of Iftaa` reviewed the Child Draft Law (2022) presented to the Board by some in official quarters.

After deliberating for three successive meetings (11, 12, and 13/2013), the Board has recorded the following notes on the articles of this Law:

First: Adding the following provision to the draft law:

"A-The family is the basis of society and its mainstays are religion, morals, and patriotism, and the child has the right to live in its family.

B- Parents shall bear the responsibility for the upbringing, guidance, care, and growth of their child, and the competent authorities shall take the necessary measures to enable the family maintain its role and perform the functions and duties entrusted to it."

Second: "We recommend a provision, to be stated in the law, which takes the various age levels of the child into consideration."

Third: Article (4): "The child shall have the right to enjoy all the rights set forth in this law with paying special attention to religious values and general ethics or rights and reputation of others, or securing national security, public order, or public health."

Fourth: Article (9): "In accordance with the related legislations."

Proposed amendment: "In accordance with personal status legislations." These are rulings of Sharia stated in personal status legislations exclusively.

Fifth: Article (12): "Enabling the family to perform its essential role in child upbringing, education, and providing it with the needed care to guarantee its normal growth to the fullest."

Proposed amendment: "This phrase is to be deleted since it was stated in the proposed new article "First" mentioned above."

Sixth: Article (13): "Replacing the phrase "Extended Family" with "Nuclear Family" and adding a phrase at the end of the article to make it read as follows: "In accordance with the relevant legislations taking the best interest of the child into consideration in line with what courts competent in matters of personal status see fit."

Seventh: Article (15)/B: "The child`s parents shall adhere to…"

Proposed amendment: "The child`s Wali (Guardian) shall adhere to…"

Eighth: Article (16)/C: "And its sexual health."

Proposed amendment: "Health", and deleting the word "Sexual."

Ninth: Article (17)/A/ (1): "Enabling the child and its parents."

Proposed amendment: "Enabling the child and its Wali (Guardian)."

Tenth: Article (18)/A: "The child has the right to participate….etcetera"

Proposed amendment: "Taking into account the rights and responsibilities of the Wali (Guardian) or the person entrusted with looking after the child, the child has the right to….etcetera."

Eleventh: Article (18)/B: "Child`s participation in determining and implementing the recreational, cultural, artistic, and scientific programs."

Proposed amendment: "Providing and implementing the recreational, cultural, artistic, and scientific programs."

Twelfth: Article (20)/C: "Despite what is stated in any legislation, having the capacity as parents or person entrusted with looking after the child isn`t an excuse to commit any of the acts included in this Article."

Proposed amendment: "Paragraph C is to be deleted from this Article."

Thirteenth: Article (21)/C: "In a way that guarantees, where possible, keeping the child in its extended family`s environment."

Proposed amendment: "In a way that guarantees, where possible, keeping the child in its nuclear family`s environment."

Fourteenth: Article (24)/C.

Proposed amendment: "Paragraph C is to be deleted because it is contrary to paragraph (A), which restricted assistance to current legislations which could include formal and objective rules and restrictions.

Fifteenth: Article (30): "The National Council for Family Affairs shall prepare periodic reports on child`s rights stated therein, and to that end, shall form the competent committees and national teams, and be assisted by any party. The reports are to be submitted to the Council of Ministers."

Proposed amendment: "The National Council for Family Affairs shall prepare periodic reports on child`s rights stated therein provided that it doesn`t dwell on the legal processes, and to that end, shall form the competent committees and national teams, and be assisted by any party. The reports are to be submitted to the Council of Ministers."

Sixteenth: Adding a new separate article that states: "It is prohibited to publish, offer, distribute, reproduce or possess any printed matter or audio-visual material that panders to children's basest instincts, projects a positive image of behavior that offends against society's values or traditions, or encourages children to engage in delinquency."

 

Grand Mufti of Jordan, Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh/ Member

Prof. Mahmoud Al-Sartawi/ Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Hijjawi/ Member

Prof. Amjad Rasheed/ Member

Prof. Adam Nooh Al-Qhodah/ Member

Dr.Hasan Makhatreh/ Member

Dr. Jameel Khatatbeh/ Member

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat/ Member

Dr. Mohammad Younes al-Zou`bi/ Member

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on performing the night prayer (*qiyām al-layl*) between the first and second adhān of Fajr? And which is better: delaying the prayer until shortly before the Fajr adhān, or performing it earlier than that?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
The time for night prayer (qiyām al-layl) begins after the Maghrib prayer and lasts until the second adhān of Fajr. The best time for it is the last third of the night, and best of all are the fourth and fifth sixths of the night. If the night is divided into two halves, the latter half is better.
Whoever intends to pray at night is encouraged to delay the Witr until he has prayed the night prayer. If he knows that he will not wake up, it is better for him to pray and perform Witr before sleeping, so that he does not miss both the night prayer and the Witr.
It is stated in Mughnī al-Muḥtāj (Vpl.1/p.462): “I say: The voluntary prayer of the night, that is, the absolute voluntary prayer (al-nafl al-muṭlaq), is better than the absolute voluntary prayer of the day, because of the report in Muslim: ‘The best prayer after the obligatory prayer is the night prayer.’ In another narration of his: ‘In the night there is an hour that no Muslim man meets while asking Allah for any good of this world and the next except that He gives it to him, and that is every night.’ It is also because the night is a time of heedlessness. I restricted the voluntary prayer to the absolute kind following the commentator, although what the ḥadīth and the underlying meaning require is that the night rawātib be preferred over the day rawātib, since the jurists preferred the two rakʿahs of Fajr over everything except Witr. The middle of the night is better than its two ends if it is divided into thirds, because heedlessness is greatest then and worship is hardest. If he wishes to pray during some third, the best is the fourth and fifth sixths, based on the ḥadīth in the two Ṣaḥīḥs: ‘The most beloved prayer to Allah the Exalted is the prayer of Dāwūd: he would sleep half the night, stand for a third of it, and sleep for a sixth.’ Then the latter part is better than the first if he divides it into two halves, because of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ‘And in the hours before dawn they would ask forgiveness’ [al-Dhāriyāt: 18], and the report of the two Shaykhs: ‘Our Lord, Blessed and Exalted, descends,’ meaning His command descends, ‘to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains, and says: Who calls upon Me, that I may answer him? Who asks of Me, that I may give him? Who seeks My forgiveness, that I may forgive him?’”
It is also stated in ʿUmdat al-Sālik (p. 60): “It is better to perform it [the Witr] immediately after the sunnah of ʿIshāʾ, unless he has tahajjud, in which case it is better to delay it so that he performs Witr after it. If he performs Witr and then wishes to pray tahajjud, he prays two rakʿahs at a time and does not repeat the Witr, nor does he need to cancel it with a single rakʿah before the tahajjud. It is recommended that he not deliberately pray after it.”
Qiyām al-layl is a term applied to any prayer performed at night. Tahajjud, on the other hand, refers to the night prayer that follows sleep, whether it is prayed after Maghrib or after ʿIshāʾ, or the prayer performed after ʿIshāʾ without sleep. On this basis, the Witr is also called tahajjud, since it is only prayed after ʿIshāʾ.
It is stated in al-Majmūʿ (Vol.4/p.84): “The sound position, as stated in al-Umm and al-Mukhtaṣar, is that the Witr is called tahajjud.”
It is stated in Nihāyat al-Zayn (Vol.1/p.114): “Among the absolute voluntary prayers is qiyām al-layl. If it is performed after sleep, even during the time of Maghrib and after having prayed ʿIshāʾ early (taqdīman), it is called tahajjud.”
And it is stated in Ḥāshiyat al-Bujayrimī ʿalā al-Khaṭīb (Vol.1/p.418): “His statement: ‘(the night prayer)’: the genitive construction (iḍāfah) carries the sense of fī, meaning a prayer in the night. His statement: ‘(it would be more fitting)’: the reason it is more fitting is that the night prayer includes both tahajjud and other prayers.” And Allah Almighty knows best.

Is it permissible for a wife to give her money to her family as a charity, or a gift without asking her husband, or seeking his consent?

The wife has the right to give her money as a charity, or a gift to her family, or to other people after consulting her husband out of respect, and this is the meaning of treating on footing of kindness and equity. Therefore, if he wanted to stop her from helping her family, then there is no harm in not telling him.

Is it permissible for a woman in her menstrual period to recite from the Mus-haf (copy of the Quran ), or to recite by heart?

A menstruating woman is permitted neither to recite nor to touch the Quran according to what Ali Bin Abi Talib (May Allah be pleased with him) reported about the Prophet (PBUH) who was only held from reciting the Holy Quran by Janabah (Major impurity) [Al-Tirmizi in a sound Hadith]. Although Janabah and menstruation are major impurities, a menstruating woman is permitted to supplicate Allah (Duaa`) and make Zikr (Tasbihat ), even if these involved saying words from the Holy Quran, provided that she does not mean the words for themselves but as a supplication, or Zikr. Moreover, she is rewarded for not reciting the Quran during her menstrual period because she abided by the injunctions of Allah.

Is it permissible to agree with a butcher to purchase the meat of an animal after it has been slaughtered — for instance, by buying the meat of a sheep at a price determined by the weight of its meat following slaughter, at a fixed rate per kilogram? And what is the ruling if the animal is being purchased with the intention of it being an uḍḥiyyah (sacrificial offering)?

 
 
 
 
 

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is not permissible to sell livestock in the manner of pricing each kilogram of meat after slaughter at a fixed rate, because the meat within the animal prior to slaughter is unseen and unknown. This leads to jahālah (ignorance of the subject matter) and gharar (contractual uncertainty), both of which are among the invalidating factors in sales transactions.
However, it is permissible for the buyer to issue a promise to purchase the meat of the animal after slaughter at a specified price per kilogram, with the actual sale being concluded at the time of weighing the meat — at which point both the quantity of the goods and the total price become known. There is no Sharī'ah objection to this arrangement.
The jurists have stipulated that for a sale to be valid, both countervalues must be present and observable. Al-Khaṭīb al-Shirbīnī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states:
"It is valid to sell a heap of grain whose total measure is unknown to both contracting parties at a rate of one sā' per dirham. This sale is valid because the subject of sale is present and observable, and ignorance of the total price is not harmful since it is known in detail — and uncertainty is thereby lifted."— [Mughnī al-Muḥtāj, Vol.2/P.355]
As for the uḍḥiyyah, the 'aqīqah, and vowed blood sacrifices (al-dam al-mandhūr) — full ownership of the animal must be established prior to slaughter. It is not valid for such animals to be slaughtered while still in the ownership of the butcher. Rather, the animal must be purchased alive and then slaughtered with the intention of uḍḥiyyah or the like. And Allah Almighty knows best.