Shahrukh Khan
Age: 124
7857 days old here
Total Posts: 43596
Points: 0
Location:
Netherlands, Netherlands
Zakat al-Fitrah FAQ (According to Fataawa of Ayatullah Sayyid As-Sistani)
Q. What is Zakat al-Fitrah?
A: It is religious tax/alms (Zakat) paid on the day when Muslims break the fasting period at the end of the month of Ramadan. This alms is known as Zakat al-Fitrah.
Q. What do the Qur'an and Hadith say about Fitrah?
A: Imams (as) say that the verses: Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success, and glorifies the Name of his Lord and prays (87:14 & 15) refer to giving of Fitrah and saying prayers on Eid al-Fitr. Hazrat Imam Jafar-e-Sadiq (A.S.) said: for your fast to be accepted, give zakat.
Q. When does Fitrah become wajib (obligatroy)?
A. Payment of Fitrah becomes obligatory after sunset on the eve of Eid al-Fitr. The Fitrah should be kept aside and paid on Eid al-Fitr before Eid prayers or before midday for those who cannot say their Eid prayers. It is necessary to have obligatory intention (Niyyah) of giving Fitrah for God's pleasure only.
Q. What happens if someone forgets or does not give Fitrah on time?
A. If one does not give out or set aside the Fitrah within the due time, he should give the Fitrah later, on the basis of precaution, without making the niyyah of adaa or qadhaa but only Qurbatan Ilallah.
Q. Can we give Fitrah in advance?
A. Giving Fitrah before the eve of Eid al-Fitr is not permissible. However, if you wish to send Fitrah earlier so that it reaches the needy on time, then you can send it as a temporary loan to the needy and then change your intention from loan to Fitrah on the eve of Eid al-Fitr.
Q. To whom is Fitrah obligatroy?
A. Paying Fitrah is obligatory on every Muslim who is mature (baligh), sane, financially able, and conscious on the eve of Eid al-Fitr. Fitrah should also be paid on behalf of all dependents (e.g. wife, children) whom one supports financially.
Q. When is a host required to pay Fitrah for his guest?
A. If a person invites another person to his house on the eve of Eid al-Fitr and if the guest is present at the host's place at the time of the sunset then it is obligatory for the host to pay Fitrah for his guest.
Q. What happens if the guest arrives after the sunset on Eid night?
A. In this case the guest will pay his/her own Fitrah and it is not obligatory on the host to pay Fitrah for the guest.
Q. What happens if a guest comes uninvited and is present at the time of the sunset on the eve of Eid al-Fitr?
A. Ayatullah Sayyid As-Sistani says that the host should still pay the Fitrah as an obligatory precaution. However, Marhum Ayatullah Sayyid al-Khui was of the opinion that is recommended for the host to pay Fitrah of an uninvited guest.
Q. How much should we pay for Fitrah?
A. Fitrah for a person is given on a weight of three kilograms (one sa'a) on any food commodity like wheat, barley, rice, millet, raisins or dates. Ayatullah Sayyid As-Sistani is of the opinion that the item that is not a staple food in your town should not be given in Fitrah. Say, for example, if millet is not a staple in Vancouver then Vancouver Mumineen should not pay Fitrah on millet.
Q. Can we give cash value of any commodity mentioned above?
A. Yes, cash value in lieu of any foodstuff mentioned can be given as Fitrah. Thus, if a kilo of rice costs $2.00, the cash value of Fitrah on rice per person would be $6.00. We recommend, Fitrah on basmati rice to be Canadian Dollars 7.00 for residents of Canada and US Dollars 6.00 for US residents. (Please check prices for other items in your areas.)
Q. Whom should we give the Fitrah to?
A. It is given to the needy who are unable to meet their own or their dependants annual living expenses, nor do they have the means to do so through earning. Ayatullah Sayyid As-Sistani says that the needy who is given the fitrah must be a Shiah Ithna Ashari.
Q. Who should not be given the Fitrah?
A. A needy who: consumes alcohol, does not say his daily prayers (salat), commits sins openly, or he who is known to use the Fitrah in sinful way.
Q. Are there any additional rules that we need to be aware of?
A. Following are some important rules:
(i) Fitrah should not be sent outside the town one resides in, if there are deserving Mumineen in that town.
(ii) Fitrah from a non-Sayyid cannot be given to a needy Sayyid; the reverse is permissible.
(iii) A needy should be given at least one Fitrah.
(iv) Amongst the needy, relatives should be preferred over others when giving Fitrah, next in line are neighbors and then the learned.
GRATEFULNESS:
Islam commands us to be GRATEFUL to ALLAH by using His favours in proper manners. We should share ALLAH's favours on us, with others. Allah can provide them (needy ones) better than what He has given to us, but He wants to test us: Is the love of Allah more in our hearts or the love of Dollars?
Sadaqah al-Fitr (voluntary charity) is a very important part of Fasting in Ramadan. One very important aspect of fasting is that we become aware of how poor people feel. Poverty is a cause of many problems.
Many of our ministers do not know what starvation is like, and they have other interests. How would they try to solve this problem?
Al Hamdulillah, Islam has really solved the big problem of Slavery. And Insha Allah, Poverty will be solved.
Shahrukh Khan
Age: 124
7857 days old here
Total Posts: 43596
Points: 0
Location:
Netherlands, Netherlands
Taraweeh: Special Prayers perform by Sunni brothers after Isha prayer during the month of Ramadhan
The following article was published in the community News & Views of January 1996. It has since been circulated almost every year during the month of Ramadhan.
I ask you all to have the following perspective in view when reading this article.
(1) In the US University and college campuses MSA's are very active. Every MSA becomes even more active during the holy month of Ramadhan. All Muslim students come together at Iftar time and break their fast together as a group. It gives a great sense of solidarity among Muslim students in the American and European campuses. However, soon after the Isha prayers, the group separates. The Sunni students regroup for the TRAWEEH prayers while the Shia students go back to their dorms. It is natural for those Sunnis who have never come in contact with the Shia Muslims to ask the Shia as to why don't they participate in the TRAWEEH prayers. This article gives a very brief but comprehensive answer to that basic question.
(2) I ask my Sunni brothers not to take this article trying to demean their FIQH, Not at all. This is just an effort to explain a basic difference between the groups. It is a FIQHI difference not a difference in basic faith. I believe that not all Sunnis will one day become Shia neither will all Shia become Sunnis. The differences are their and they will last. However, let us try to understand each other and work and live with each other by being a little more tolerant towards each other by accepting what we are without labeling any one as KAFIR or FASIQ.
(3) Having said all that, let me add this post-script. Lately some Sunni institutions have tried to show (falsely) that mention has been made about TARAWEEH in the Hadith literature. However noble that effort may be towards legitimizing something which is a bidah (whether you call it bidaht-e-Hasan or not), it is baseless. There is a Hadith in Bukhari (and in other books too) that the Prophet of Islam (SAW) did special NAFL prayers in the middle of the night. The Arabic term used here in the HADITH is FI JAWF-IL-LAYL. The exact translation of this term in the English language is IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. Some Sunni writers have tried to prove that this Hadith is actually about TARAWEEH. Nothing could be further from the truth. This Hadith is about NAMAZ-E-SHAB also known as TAHAJJUD. It is this prayer which is eleven Rakat that is done in the middle of the night. It is not specific to Ramadhan. It is done or can be done all year round. And TARAWEEH is not done in the Middle of the Night; it is done after Isha before the midnight sets in.
Community News & Views Vol.4 No.9 January 1996 ISSN 1067 5523
ALL ABOUT TARAWEEH:
A great majority of our Sunni brothers perform the Taraweeh Salat every evening after Isha prayer during the month of Ramadhan. We, the Shia Muslims don't. Many of the Sunni brothers do not know that (according to their own ulema) Taraweeh is Mustahab, but the great majority of them perform it as if it was as Wajib as the Ramadhan fasting itself.
In 1983 when I was in Saudi Arabia, a Saudi scholar, answering a question in the local English newspaper, gave the following details of how this special prayer was introduced in Islam.
Soon after the death of Hazrat Abu Bakr in the 13th year of Hijra, Hazrat Umar took control of the Islamic State as the second Khaleefa. In the Ramadhan of 14 Hijra, while he was going round the streets of Madinah, he noticed people performing supererogatory prayers (Nafl) here and there, a few of them in various places. A bright idea dawned upon him. He decided to bring all the Muslims together in a congregation and commanded them to recite one thirtieth of the Holy Quran every night. This way, the entire Holy Quran was recited by each and every Muslim man at least once in the month of Ramadhan. A few days later, as he was going round again, he saw the various congregations and was very pleased. He is reported to have said at the sight: O! What a beautiful bidah (innovation) I have established.
The Saudi scholar writing this did not mention his source references. But we have confirmed that the establishment of Taraweeh Salat was done by Hazrat Umar ibn Khattab in the 14th year of Hijra as stated in "Tareekh-ul-Khulafa" by Jalal-uddeen Suyooti (d. 911 Hijra) and Murooj-uz Zahab by Masoodi (d.346 Hijra).
Of course, there are some slight differences between various Sunni sects in how this special prayer is performed. The Hanafi do Twenty Rakat every night, and after the recital of sura Al-Hamd, nearly one-twentieth of each Juz is recited. The others perform eight rakat of prayer every night and in each one nearly one eighth of a Juz is recited. The end result is that one full Juz of the Holy Quran is recited every night.
Although I have not seen this anywhere in writing, but I have a feeling that it was because of Taraweeh that the Holy Quran, which was compiled by our Holy Prophet (SAW) into verses (Ayat) and chapters (Suras), was divided into 30 equal parts and each section named a Juz (Para in Farsi).
As I said earlier, we the Shia do not do this prayer although we are supposed to perform an extra 1000 Rakat of supererogatory salat during the month of Ramadhan (as prescribed in Mafateeh-ul-Jinan and other books) and we also recite Holy Quran at least once over.
Our rejection of Taraweeh is not out of spite. We do not do it for two reasons; one is purely jurisprudential (Fiqhee) and the other logical (Aqlee).
(1) All our religious teaching is either taken from the Holy Quran or from the Ahlul-Bayt (peace be unto them all). Hazrat Umar's (or anybody else's for that matter) statements and acts have no value for us in matters of worship or law. Taraweeh is not mentioned in the Holy Quran. It was not done by the Holy Prophet (SAW) in his lifetime and it was never done by any of our Imams neither did they ever speak about it.
(2) When the Prophet of Islam (SAW) compiled the Holy Quran as we see it today, he (SAW) also made statements giving the attributes of each chapter (sura). In this, he gave details about which verses and suras should be recited as part of salat. Some are recited in pairs like al-Feel (ch. 105) and Quraysh (ch. 106). Only those suras are supposed to be recited in salat which express Allah's Power and Majesty etc. It is quite obvious that some verses are not meant to be recited in salat, like those describing the laws of divorce and menstruation. Although we do not understand Arabic, those who do will agree that every verse cannot be recited in salat. So, we do recite the entire Holy Quran in the month of Ramadhan and we do perform supererogatory prayers but not as Taraweeh.
