Resolutions of Iftaa' Board



Resolutions of Iftaa' Board

Resolution No.(249): "Ruling on Inviting Doctors to Attend Scientific Conferences and Meetings"

Date Added : 09-06-2020

Resolution No. (249)(18/2017) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies:

"Ruling on Inviting Doctors to Attend Scientific Conferences and Meeting"

Date: (2/ Rabie` 2nd/1439 AH), corresponding to (21/11/2017 AD).

 

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all His family and companions.

On the above date, the Board received a question sent from a Jordanian citizen to the Electronic Website of the General Iftaa` Department. It stated as follows:

What is the ruling of Sharia on the invitations sent to doctors by pharmaceutical companies to attend scientific conferences overseas, knowing that travel and accommodation expenses are covered by the companies themselves? Also, what is the ruling on inviting doctors to scientific lectures accompanied with a fancy business lunch or dinner at a state hotel?

After deliberating, the Board arrived at the following decision:

It is permissible for doctors to take sample medications offered by representatives of pharmaceutical companies as well as attend academic conferences, provided that they adhere to the following rules of Sharia and the medical profession:

First: It doesn`t affect the doctor`s decision in prescribing the medication that suits the patient`s condition.

Second: The doctor takes the financial condition of the patient into consideration.

Third: The doctor adheres to the rules and regulations governing this sector in the ministry or party with whom he works. 

Fourth: The doctor`s aim is to achieve progress in his field of specialty and benefit the patients.

In conclusion, treatment is the responsibility of the doctor before Almighty Allah. He/she should observe the rules of Sharia and the moral code. Therefore, if the afore invitations and conferences could undermined his/her adherence to the above rules, then they should be turned down. And Allah Knows Best.

 

 

Chairman of Iftaa` Board

Grand Mufti of Jordan

Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh

Sheikh Abdulkareem Al-Khasawneh, Member

Prof. Abdullah Al-Fawaz, Member

Dr. Majid Darawsheh, Member

Dr. Mohammad Khair Al-Esa, Member

Sheikh Sa`eid Al-Hijjawi, Member

Dr. Ahmad Al-Hasanat, Member

Judge Khalid Woraikat, Member

Dr. Mohammad Al-Zo`bi, Member

 

 

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on someone who combines two prayers as an early combination (jam‘ taqdīm), and then arrives at his place of residence during the time of the second prayer — is he obligated to repeat it?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Whoever combines Ẓuhr and ‘Aṣr while traveling — that is, before he has reached the built-up boundaries of his hometown [upon returning] — his combination (jam‘) of the two prayers remains valid, even if he arrives at his place of residence before the time for the second prayer has actually begun. This is because the combination was already validly completed with its proper conditions fulfilled, and he is not obligated to repeat the second prayer [upon arrival].
A traveler is permitted to make use of the concessions of shortening (qaṣr) and combining (jam‘) prayers once the distance of travel reaches (81 km) or more, provided that his journey is a permissible one, and that he begins shortening and combining only after actually setting out on the journey and passing beyond the built-up limits of the city in which he resides. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

I vowed to give a specific charity if a certain matter came to pass — what is the ruling on giving that charity before the matter is realised?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Fulfilling a vow (nadhr) is obligatory, in accordance with the word of Allah the Almighty: "And let them fulfil their vows." [Al-Ḥajj/ 29] And the saying of our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: "Whoever vows to obey Allah, let him obey Him; and whoever vows to disobey Him, let him not disobey Him." (Reported by al-Bukhārī.)
The Shāfiʿī scholars distinguished between a financial vow (nadhr mālī) and a bodily vow (nadhr badanī). They permitted the fulfilment of a financial vow to be brought forward — before the stipulated condition is met — but did not permit the same for a bodily vow, which may only be fulfilled after the condition has actually been realised.
Shaykh al-Islām Imām Zakariyyā al-Anṣārī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "It is permissible to bring forward the fulfilment of a financial vow before the condition stipulated in it is met — such as saying: 'If I am healed, I vow to free a slave' or 'to give such-and-such in charity' — just as it is permissible to pay zakāh in advance. This is unlike a bodily vow, such as fasting." [Asnā al-Maṭālib, vol. 4/P.246]
Imām al-Bājūrī, may Allah have mercy upon him, states: "Like expiation other than fasting, a financial vow — such as saying: 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave for the sake of Allah,' or 'If Allah heals my sick one, I vow to free a slave on the Friday following the recovery' — it is permissible to bring it forward before the recovery in the first case, and before the Friday following the recovery in the second case." [Ḥāshiyat al-Bājūrī ʿalā Sharḥ Ibn Qāsim, Vol.2/P.596] And Allah the Almighty knows best.

What is the ruling on applying perfume while fasting?

Applying perfume does not break the fast. However, it is better to avoid it, as fasting is a practice of simplicity and restraint, while perfume is a form of luxury.

For some time I have been searching for a guiding shaykh to teach me the spiritual path (*sulūk*) and the Islamic sciences, but I have not found one. What should I do?

 

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
There is abundant good in this Ummah, and the scholars who guide and nurture are never cut off. The student of knowledge should strive in seeking them out, ask diligently after them, and draw from their learning.
As for one who cannot find a guiding and nurturing shaykh, he should send abundant prayers and peace upon our master the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), while keeping constantly to dhikr and worship and abstaining from the forbidden. For that will bring him to his goal in traveling toward Allah the Exalted. Imam Muḥammad al-Sanūsī (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “I have seen it said by some of the imams of Sufism that whoever lacks shaykhs of spiritual training (shuyūkh al-tarbiyah) should increase his invocation of blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), for by it he will reach his goal.”
The scholar Aḥmad Zarrūq al-Mālikī (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Qawāʿid al-Taṣawwuf (p. 86), rule no. 114: “Dhikr is the decree of sainthood (manshūr al-wilāyah). Whoever is given dhikr has been given the decree. Our shaykh Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Ḥaḍramī (may Allah be pleased with him) said: ‘Keep constantly to dhikr and abundant blessings upon the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), for it is a ladder, an ascent, and a path to Allah the Exalted when the seeker does not meet a guiding shaykh.’” And Allah Almighty knows best.