Articles

About the Mistake Made by Taking the Fatwa on Serving Food during the Day Time of Ramadan out of its Context
Author : The General Iftaa` Department
Date Added : 11-06-2023

About the Mistake Made by Taking the Fatwa on Serving Food during the Day Time of Ramadan out of its Context

 

All perfect praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May Allah`s peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

 

The General Iftaa` Department attracts the attention of all its followers to the need to take the context and subject of the Fatwa into consideration, not to remove it out of its circumstance, and not to generalize its intended meanings from near or far. This pertains, in particular, to the answers forwarded to the asker through his/her personal email since they aren`t characterized as absolute and general. Rather, they address a certain case and circumstance.

 

The General Iftaa Department had answered one of the questioners about a fasting person making “Breakfast, lunch or coffee for a non-fasting person… and he is forced to do so because his manager orders him to do that.” This is according to the text of the question.

 

The answer was that helping in such sin is forbidden because a Muslim wouldn`t help a Muslim in not observing fast during daytime of Ramadan unless that Muslim had a lawful excuse such as illness, travel and the like.

 

The answer given by the Department read as follows: "You aren`t allowed to serve coffee and tea during the day time of Ramadan to someone who disobeys Allah by violating the sanctity of this sacred month without a valid excuse. This is because what you are doing is helping in sin while Almighty Allah says {What means}: "Help ye one another in righteousness and piety, but help ye not one another in sin and rancour: fear Allah. for Allah is strict in punishment." {Al-Ma`idah, 2}.

 

However, some people misunderstood this Fatwa and said that the Department bans the excused and non-Muslims from eating during the daytime of Ramadan!

 

Accordingly, it was imperative that We clarify the fact of the matter, so We said that the banning pertains to the Muslims who broke fast without a valid excuse and didn`t impose any difficulty on people with excuses. This is in addition to not transgressing against the special nature of other faiths nor addressing non-Muslims.

 

The fact that Fatwa is a responsibility obliges everyone to observe honesty in delivering Fatwa, prudence, and accuracy of expression, and if there is a confusion or a problem, the Iftaa` Department is always ready to make things clear. Allah the Almighty says {What means}: " And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning)." {Al-Isra`, 36}. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible to pay the Fitr Zakah (obligatory charity) of Ramadan on behalf of a dead person?

The Fitr Zakah of Ramadhaan isn`t due on one who had passed away before the sunset of the last day of Ramadan. And Allah Knows Best.

Is it permissible for someone who is unable to fast to pay the fidyah (ransom/compensation payment) to himself, due to his own poverty?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is not permissible, nor does it fulfill the obligation, for a sick person who is currently and permanently unable to fast to pay the fidyah (ransom/compensation payment) to himself, since it is a financial obligation owed by him, established as a standing debt upon him — much like any other debt he owes. If he were to pay it to himself, it would not thereby be discharged. So if he cannot find [anyone eligible to] pay it to, it remains a standing obligation upon him, and is not thereby waived. If Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, later grants him wealth, it becomes obligatory upon him to pay it out to the poor and needy.
Imam al-Khaṭīb ash-Shirbīnī (raḥimahullāh) said: "There is no difference in the obligation of the fidyah between the wealthy and the poor person; its benefit lies in its remaining established as a standing debt upon the poor person [until he is able to pay it] — and this is the more correct position (al-aṣaḥḥ), as indicated by the wording of ar-Rawḍah and its source text." [Mughnī al-Muḥtāj, Vol.2/P.174]
Accordingly: it is not permissible for a Muslim to pay the fidyah to himself while he remains poor. If the sick person is poor, he is not obligated to pay the fidyah immediately, and it remains a standing debt upon him until a time when he has sufficient means and wealth. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Is it permissible for a wife to boycott (not to attend to his different needs) her husband?

It isn`t permissible for the woman to boycott her husband unless he is the reason behind that, and it is recommended that both spouses seek the advice of righteous people to make reconciliation.

A pregnant woman has iron deficiency. When she showers, she becomes very tired and feels cold. What is the ruling on tayammum in this situation?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
One should not resort to tayammum (dry ablution) as a substitute for the obligatory ghusl (ritual bathing) so long as it remains possible to use water — for example, by heating the water, warming the place where the bathing takes place, or taking other similar precautions. However, if such measures prove ineffective, or are simply not possible to carry out, and performing ghusl [with cold water] would result in severe harm, then tayammum becomes permissible in that case, due to genuine inability to use water on account of the harm that would result, as described in the question. That said, she must make up (qaḍā') the prayers she performed using this tayammum.
It is stated in Bushrā al-Karīm: "One should not perform tayammum on account of cold unless warming the limbs fails to remove the aforementioned harm, and no means are available to heat the water — such as a vessel, firewood, or fire — and one fears [that using cold water would result in] any of the harms mentioned earlier in the discussion on illness: danger to life, loss of function in a limb, the onset or worsening of an illness, delayed recovery, or the [visible bodily] blemish mentioned in that discussion on illness. In such a case, tayammum becomes permissible due to the harm involved, but the prayer must still be made up afterward (qaḍā'). If, however, warming the body proves effective, or the means to heat the water are available, or none of the aforementioned harms are feared — then tayammum is not permissible, even if using the water causes some degree of discomfort or pain, since mere discomfort alone does not permit resorting to tayammum." And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.