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Objectives of Financial Transactions (2)
Author : Dr. Safwan Odaybat
Date Added : 09-02-2023

Objectives of Financial Transactions (2)

(In Light of Ibn Ashur`s Book "Maqasid Al-Shariah Al-Islamiyah")

 

Imam Tahir bin Ashur has excelled in deducing the objectives of financial transactions in Islam and clarifying that through general principles established and illustrated in his book along with providing examples. These have become a guideline for the researcher in the jurisprudence of transactions and rules to rely on when addressing emerging issues. Truly, his words deserve to be written with gold and this article and the one before it merely arrange and summarize Ibn Ashour`s objectives.

 

Preserving wealth is one of the total rules classified under necessities (Daruriyat) and is based on growing and circulating wealth, which is classified under needs (Hajiyat). 

In order for wealth to be considered as such, it must be valued based on five things:

1. It can be saved since that which cannot be saved cannot be used at the time it is needed.

2. It is desirable to collect since it is only desired to collect the wealth that is of benefit.

3. It is tradable since what isn`t tradable is not desired to be collected.

4. It is limited in amount since what is unlimited in amount, such as seas and sand, can`t be owned in specific; consequently, it isn`t considered a wealth.

5. It is earned since what isn`t earned is not of benefit. For example, things that occur spontaneously, such as picking up weeds that are useless and there is no desire to collect them.

 

Some financial transactions are due to ownership while some are due to gain:

 

1. Ownership. This term refers to the acquisition of property, such as buying a house for residence. There are three reasons for ownership:

A. It can be owned in particular, such as reviving arid land and owning it for that.

B. Farm leasing.

C. Exchange for compensation like a sale transaction.

One is free to dispose of one's property as long as he/she has the capacity to do so without causing harm to others and without infringing on the provisions of the Sharia.

 

2. Earning.  This term refers to working to secure one`s needs. For example, sharing agreements, such as Muzara'ah, an Arabic word for sharecropping: a partnership in crops whereby one party (the landowner) presents a piece of land to another (the agricultural worker) for the latter to cultivate and maintain in return for a common defined share in the crop. Another example is Mogharasa.

 

There are three principles for earning:

 

A. Earth. It includes anywhere that human action reaches in the globe.

B. Work. It is the means of extracting most of the Earth's benefits, and it is based on the soundness of the mind and the health of the body.

C. Capital. It is money saved for spending on what generates profits.

 

The objectives of Sharia concerning wealth are five:

1- Circulation. It refers to the circulation of wealth amongst people in a lawful manner, such as trade and other, as reflected in the following verse, whereas Allah, The Exalted Says (What means): "In order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you." {Al-Hasher/ 7}.

 

Some means of preserving the circulation of wealth are: 

A- Contracts were legislated to transfer financial rights via commutation or donation.

B- The general rule in financial contracts is irrevocability without selection save with a condition.

C- Tolerating a bit of uncertainty in some contracts, such as Salam and Istisna`, out of facilitation. 

D- Making maintenances an obligation, such that given to the wife, encouraging donations and charities, and allowing spending on luxuries. All of this help support the lower and middle classes.

E- Facilitating transactions and favoring interest over potential corruption. Therefore, the presence of both compensations isn`t a condition to conclude a deal.

F- Dealing in gold and silver as an alternative for exchange to allow circulation. This indicates the wisdom behind the Prophet`s prohibiting men from using gold and silver, and that is leaving no room for the circulation of these two metals instead of keeping them and consequently minimizing their amount.

2- Documentation of financial rights, and this is why it is legislated to have witnesses and mortgage when borrowing money.

3- Preserving public and private wealth. Allah The Almighty Says {What means}: "O ye who believe! Eat not up your property among yourselves in vanities: But let there be amongst you Traffic and trade by mutual good-will: Nor kill (or destroy) yourselves: for verily God hath been to you Most Merciful!" {An-Nisa`/29}.

4- Proof of ownership.

The Sharia objective behind proof of ownership and earning is:

A- A person`s wealth is his/hers.

B- A person is free to dispose of his/her wealth without harming others nor transgressing against the provisions of Sharia.

C- It is forbidden to take someone`s wealth unjustly since the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "If anyone revives dead land, it belongs to him, and the unjust root has no right." Malik explained, "The unjust root is whatever is taken, or planted without right."

5- Earning wealth justly.

There are four methods for making wealth in a lawful manner:

A- Work

B- Compensation

C- Donation

D- Inheritance

Aspects of justice as regards wealth are:

A- Preserving public interests

B- Warding off harm

A person`s freedom to dispose of his/her wealth is conditioned by not causing harm to others nor conflict with public interest.

 

* (This article is adapted from "Maqasid Al-Sharia Al-Islamiah", At-Tahir Bin Ashour, introduction by Hatim Bo Sama, Egyptian Book House, Cairo, Lebanese Book House, 1st floor, 2011, pp. 293-319)

The published article reflects the opinion of its author

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it Sunnah to cook the meat of the 'aqīqah?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is Sunnah not to distribute the meat of the 'aqīqah raw. Rather, it is recommended to cook it with something sweet — such as raisins or honey — as a good omen and expression of hope for the sweetness of the newborn's character and conduct throughout their life. And Allah Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on the ablution of one who washes his arms from the wrist to the elbows?

In the school of Imam al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him), washing the arms (hands) is achieved by washing the arms completely, from the fingertips to the elbows. Washing only the palms at the beginning is insufficient, as washing them at the beginning is a Sunnah, but after washing the face, it becomes obligatory (fard). The person performing ablution must wash his palms along with the arms after washing the face. If he does not wash his palms, his ablution is invalid and not correct. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling of Islamic Law regarding one who purchases a sacrificial animal (uḍḥiyah) and it then develops a defect before slaughter?

Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
If a defect that invalidates the sacrifice (uḍḥiyah) arises after its purchase — for example, if one purchased a sound, defect-free animal, and it then developed a limp, blindness in one eye, or a similar defect before slaughter — it does not fulfill the requirement of a valid uḍḥiyah, according to the Shāfi'ī school.
It is stated in Asnā al-Maṭālib fī Sharḥ Rawḍ al-Ṭālib (Vol.1/P.535): "Even if the limp develops [in the animal] while the knife is upon it, it still does not fulfill the requirement, because it is lame at the moment of slaughter — this is analogous to a case where a sheep's leg breaks and one hastens to slaughter it [in that condition]."
The Ḥanbalī school, however, held that if the one offering the sacrifice purchased the animal while it was sound and defect-free, and a defect then befell it afterward, the sacrifice remains valid and there is no obligation to replace it.
It is stated in Masā'il al-Imām Aḥmad, one of the Ḥanbalī reference works (Vol.8/P.4021): "I said: If a person purchases the sacrificial animal while it is sound, and it is then afflicted with illness, blindness in one eye, or a broken limb [before slaughter]? He [Imam Aḥmad] said: It is said that it still fulfills the requirement. Isḥāq said likewise, because he purchased it while sound, and the defect befell it only afterward, so it remains sufficient on his behalf." [End of quote]
Accordingly, a sheep afflicted with a defect that invalidates the sacrifice does not fulfill the requirement of a valid uḍḥiyah — whether the defect arose after purchase or during the slaughter itself — according to the Shāfi'ī school. However, there is no objection to following the Ḥanbalī position on this matter [as a valid alternative]. And Allah, the Most High, knows best.

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.

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