Issues and Questions
By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi
Dated
February 11, 2005
Aqiqa for Converts, Civil
Marriage, People of the Book, Divorce Through Court
Q 1. A Muslim woman got a
divorce from her husband through the court in the
US. Although her husband did not divorce her but
still she was awarded a divorce as a no fault divorce.
My question is: if she wants to get back to her
husband (who never divorced her, verbally or in
writing) what is the procedure according to our
religion? Can she remarry him? My second question
is a more general one. Is it true that a woman who
gets a Khula can get remarried to her first husband
without the restriction of Halalah?
A 1. If a divorce
takes place by the decision of a Qadi (or a civil
judge here in the United States) or through the
process of Khula', it is called Talaq Ba'in according
to the Shari'ah. The husband in this situation is
not allowed to revoke or cancel the divorce, even
in the Iddah period. However, if they want to go
back to each other and want to live again as husband
and wife, then they have to have to marry again
with a new Nikah. (In the United States the law
requires that before marriage they should take a
new marriage license from the county of their residence.)
The restriction of Halalah does not
apply in this case. Halalah is necessary only when
a husband divorces his wife third time. Allah says
in the Qur'an: "Divorce can be twice and then
(a woman) is to be retained in honor or released
in kindness… And if he divorced her (the third
time) then she is not lawful to him thereafter until
she has wedded another husband. Then if he (the
other husband) divorce her it is no sin for both
of them that they come together again if they consider
that they are able to observe the limits of Allah…
(al-Baqarah 2:229-230)
Q 2. My understanding is that
according to the Qur'an "People of the Book/Jews/Christians"
applies to those amongst them who hold/held the
monotheist belief, as opposed to those from amongst
them who have gone astray to believe in more than
one God and thus fallen into the category of polytheists.
However, I am not sure how or whether this conflicts
with the understanding of a great number of Muslims/non-Muslims
that the category of "People of the Book"
includes even those that hold a belief in the trinity
and "Jesus/Ezra is the son of God", because
they are recognized as such in the Qur'an. And it's
from amongst these that Muslim men can marry. I
would greatly appreciate some input on this matter
with reference to the Holy Qur'an and the Sunnah.
A 2. The expression
"Ahl al-Kitab" (the People of the Book)
is used in the Qur'an thirty-one times. Another
expression "al-Ladhina utu al-Kitab" (those
who were given the book) is also used eighteen times.
Two points we should keep in mind when reading these
references:
1. Whenever some people are called
"People of the Book" or "Those who
were given the Book" it does not mean that
they were necessarily the true followers of Allah's
Book. Sometime these expressions are descriptive
and sometimes they are exhortative.
2.In all these cases these expressions refer to
Jews and Christians. There is a consensus of Muslim
scholars that Jews and Christians are the People
of the Book. This includes the Jews and Christians
at the time of the Prophet - peace be upon him -
and at later times. The titles "People of the
Book" or "those who were given the Book"
are descriptive in the sense that these people have
a scripture that was originally given by Allah to
their Prophets.
The scripture in its totality is not authentic at
this time, but it still contains some of the authentic
teachings of Allah. The title is also honorable
in as much as it is exhortative. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has addressed them with a good title in
order to remind them of their duties and to invite
them to Islam. This is a beautiful method of Qur'anic
preaching. Even those who do wrong things are often
addressed in the Qur'an with good names and titles,
unless they show their arrogance and reject the
message of God.
If you read the Qur'an carefully,
you will see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sometimes
addressed the hypocrites with the expression "O
you who believe!"
The hypocrites, of course, were not
true Believers,but they were addressed with this
good expression to remind them that they were not
doing what they were claiming by their own mouths.
See for example the ayah, "O you who believe,
why do you say that which you do not… (al-Saff
61:2) This ayah is not speaking about the good Believers.
In another place Allah says: "O you who believe,
what ails you that when it is said to you, 'Go forth
in the way of Allah,' you cling heavily to the ground.
Do you take pleasure in the life of this world rather
than in the Hereafter…? (al-Tawbah 9:38)
Thus in a similar way when the Qur'an
calls some people "People of the Book"
it does not mean that they were or are the true
followers of Allah's Books or the true Believers.
This is the style of exhortation and encouragement.
They are told in a way that you claim to have the
Divine Message and Divine Scripture, why do not
follow the true message, or why do you not accept
the Last and Final Prophet of God? See for example,
"O People of the Book, do not exaggerate in
your religion and do not say about Allah anything
but the truth…(al-Nisa 4:171) or in another
place Allah says, "O People of the Book, why
do you reject the signs of Allah while you witness
them? O People of the Book, why do you confuse the
truth with falsehood and knowingly conceal the truth?"
('Al 'Imran 3:70-71)
As far as the permission to Muslim
men to marry women of the "People of the Book"
and to eat the meat slaughtered (dhabihah) by the
People of the Book, this is restricted to Jews and
Christians only. The jurists are almost unanimous
that this permission cannot be extended to any other
group and it is still valid.
Allah says, "This day are all
good things made lawful for you. The food of those
who were given the Book is lawful for you and your
food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous
women of the believers and the virtuous women of
those who were given the Book before you …
(Surah al-Ma'idah 5:5) This permission is not abrogated
(mansukh). Scholars put certain restrictions and
conditions according to their understanding and
interpretations of other rules of the Shari'ah in
these matters, but no respectable scholar has called
or can call invalid the permission that Allah has
granted in this ayah.
Q 3. My wife and I were married
in front of a United States Justice of the Peace.
She is an American convert to Islam. However, at
the time of our marriage she was not a Muslim. This
is the reasoning for getting married at a courthouse.
We have now been married for 3½ years. Is
it necessary for us to perform Nikah?
A 3. Your marriage
is valid, but it is better for you to have the Nikah.
You neglected an important Sunnah and it is good
to do it. There are a number of Ahadith that indicate
that spouses become Halal to each other(for intercourse)
with the name of Allah. Since you did not come together
in Nikah with the name of Allah, it is better for
you to do it as soon as possible.
Q 4. Since my wife has accepted
Islam, am I required to perform Aqiqa for her?
A 4. The Aqiqa is
a Sunnah for the newborn. It is not required for
the converts. If you want to sacrifice an animal
in thankfulness to Allah, you may do so. But the
head should not be shaved.
Q 5. I would like to ask you
about Salah. I pray five times a day, but I can
never keep my attention in my prayers. My mind always
seems to wonder, and I start to think about other
things. It seems like Satan is even closer to me
when I am praying. I would really like to solve
this problem. Do you think that knowing the meaning
of what I recite in the Salah would be a solution?
A 1. May Allah bless
you for your concern about your Salah. We all should
try to pay attention to our prayers and we should
try to improve our prayers and to make them beautiful.
The whole purpose of prayer is to remember Allah
and to feel in His presence. In a famous Hadith,
the Prophet - peace be upon him - said, "The
Ihsan (right and beautiful action) is to worship
Allah as though you are seeing Him, and while you
see Him not yet truly He sees you…" (al-Bukahri,
Hadith no. 48). The following things will help,
InshaAllah, in the concentration in Salah:
1. Make intention. Intention should
be in the heart. That is the real place of intention.
Intend that you are praying to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and only for his sake. Think what prayer
you are making. Is it Fard or Sunnah or Nafl? Are
you praying Fajr, Zuhr, 'Asr, Maghrib or 'Isha and
any other prayer? How many rak'ah you intend to
pray and whether you are praying alone or with the
Jama'ah? The clearer you are in your intention,
the better will be your attention and concentration.
2. Perform your prayers on time without
delay. 3. Perform your prayer according to the Sunnah
of the Prophet - peace be upon him. 4. Stand straight.
Keep your eyes open and look at the place of your
Sajdah while your are standing. In Ruku' look at
your feet, in Sajdah towards the floor and in the
sitting position at your lap or your hands.
5. Do not play with your hands and
do not rub your face, body or clothes. Be as quiet
and still as possible.
6. Think yourself in the presence
of Allah and Allah is facing you.
7. Do not rush your prayers. Do every
part of prayer with care and in a relaxed manner.
8. Recite the words carefully. Pay
attention to what you are saying. You should learn
the meaning of various du'as in Salah.
9. Ask Allah to help you in your prayers
and to accept your prayers. The Prophet -peace be
upon him - used to say, "Allahumma a'inni 'ala
dhikrika wa shukrika wa husn 'ibadatika." (O
Allah help me in remembering You, in thanking You
and in worshipping You in the best way.)
10. Also remember that Haram food,
Haram income and sins take away the joy and concentration
in prayer.
Keep yourself pure and clean as much
as you can.
Q 6. It has been observed
in the USA that if an individual is offering prayer
alone and subsequently another person enters the
mosque, that person quickly joins the first person
in the prayer to make it congregational prayer (Jama'ah).
How far this practice is in accordance with the
Qur'an or the Practice of the Holy Prophet - peace
be upon him. I understand that for a Jama'ah prayer,
the Imam has to make an intention of being the Imam
of that Jama'ah. When a person offers prayer alone,
he does not make such an intention. I never observed
such a practice in India.
What happens when the first
person (who has already started his prayer) is offering
a prayer, which is other than Fard (such as Sunnah,
etc.) and
subsequently the other person
joins him thinking that the first person is offering
a Fard prayer.
A 6. There are three
basic issues involved in this question.
1. Is it necessary to for the Imam
to have the intention of leading the prayer?
2. Is it necessary for the Imam and
the Muqtadi (follower) to have the same intention
or can they have different intentions?
3. Is there any difference between
the Fard prayer and Sunnah or Nafl prayers in this
matter?
Some jurists are of the opinion that
the Imam must have the intention of leading the
prayer and since the intention should at the beginning
of the Salah, it is not right for a person to pray
behind someone who has not made the intention of
leading the Salah. This is the position of Imam
Abu Hanifah. He also holds that there should be
no discrepancy between the prayer of the Imam and
the follower. So a person cannot pray Zuhr behind
an Imam who is leading 'Asr prayer or vice versa.
He, however, allows a person to pray Nafl behind
someone who is leading the Fard prayer. He also
allows a traveler (musafir) to pray behind a resident
(muqeem) and vice versa.
According to Imam Shafi'i, the most
important thing is the intention of the person who
is making his/her prayer. Thus he allows a person
to pray behind someone who began the prayer as a
Munfarid (alone). He also allows a person to pray
a different prayer than the prayer of his/her Imam.
Thus the Imam may be leading Zuhr and the follower
may pray 'Asr behind him. The only exception is
the Tarawih prayer, he does not allow a person to
pray Isha prayer behind the Imam who is leading
the Tarawih prayer, because Tarawih has special
rules.
Looking at various Ahadith on this
subject, it seems to me (and Allah knows better)
that Imam Abu Hanifah's position is stronger and
closer to the Sunnah. If someone has missed his
Jama'ah then he should pray alone or he should have
another Jama'ah with the Imam who would lead the
same prayer. One is allowed to pray Nafl behind
someone who is leading Fard, but not the vice versa.
This is the common practice in India and Pakistan
and all those countries where Hanafi Fiqh is followed.
Since we are living in a society where
there are Muslims from various schools of Fiqh,
it is important that we understand and tolerate
this difference among us. If someone comes and starts
praying behind you while you were praying by yourself,
you should not get upset. You should know that he
is doing it according to a respectable Fiqhi position.
May Allah accept our prayers.
Q 7. Is it permissible in
Islam to donate blood to non-Muslims?
A 7. Blood transfusion for medical
purposes is permissible in Islam. It is permissible
to take blood from a non-Muslim and it is permissible
to give blood to non-Muslims. These matters are
related to human life. Islam teaches us to feed
the hungry, to take care of the sick and to save
the life of people. In these matters it does not
make any difference between the life of a Muslim
and a non-Muslim
