Issues and Questions
Praying Jummah Zawal, Selling Pork, Reading the Quran at Same Level

By Dr Muzammil H. Siddiqi

Dated January 28.2005

Q 1. Could we pray al-Jumu'ah prayer before the timeof Zawal due to conflicts with lecture times for somebrothers? It is mentioned in the Fiqh al-Sunnah thataccording to the school of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal thiscan be done.

A 1. According to the majority of Muslim jurists, thetime of Jumu'ah prayer is after the Zawal (i.e., afterthe middle of the day when the sun begins to decline).This is the way the Prophet - peace be upon him -prayed most of the time. But there are some reportsthat indicate that the Prophet - peace be upon him -also prayed Jumu'ah a little before Zawal and in thetime of Abu Bakr, and 'Umar - may Allah be pleasedwith them - Jumu'ah prayer was sometimes held beforethe Zawal. Thus, according to Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal -may Allah be pleased with him - it is permissible(ja'iz) to pray Jumu'ah before Zawal. However, eventhe scholars of his School say that it is better topray Jumu'ah after the Zawal to avoid any controversyand to do it at the time when the Prophet very oftenperformed his Jumu'ah prayers. (See al-Mughni of IbnQudamah, vol. 3, pp. 240-241) In some cities in the US and Canada during the summer,due to the use of Daylight Saving Time, the Zawalcomes almost at 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. and thus it becomesdifficult for many people to pray Jumu'ah prayer intheir lunch break. In this situation, it is suggestedby some scholars that people can have Adhan and FridayKhutbah before Zawal and prayer immediately after theZawal.

Q 2. I have a question regarding selling pork. I knowthat selling alcohol is not permissible. I have heardthat even selling grapes to someone who makes wine isharam. My question is whether the same applies topork? Is one allowed to work as a cashier at fast foodrestaurants, which have pork in some of the items? Andis it allowed to deliver food, which has pork in it,such as pizza?

A 2. The Prophet - peace be upon him - is reported tohave said, "When Allah makes haram to eat something,He also makes haram its price." (Musnad Ahmad ibnHanbal, Hadith no. 2546.) On the basis of this Hadith,the general Islamic rule is that whatever is forbiddento eat is also forbidden to buy and sell. Thus aMuslim should not participate in the business of haramthings. If a person is involved in such a business, heshould try to find another halal business as soon aspossible.

Q 3. My parents have always told me that when someoneis reading the Qur'an every one has to be on the samelevel. For example, if I am reading the Qur'an and Iam sitting on the bed, but my sister is sitting on thefloor, that is wrong. Either she has to come up to thebed, or I have to sit on the floor, but we both haveto be sitting on the same level. Why is that so? Alsotake the next scenario: My brother is sitting in thenext room and he is reading the Qur'an on the floor,but I am sitting on the bed, does the same rule apply,even though we are in separate rooms?

A 3. The Qur'an is the Word of Allah. It is the mostsacred book. Muslims must respect this book and musthonor it. Our outward postures reflect our innerfeelings of love, devotion, reverence and submissionto the Words of our Lord. Reading the Qur'an is notlike reading an ordinary book. It has some etiquetteand manners (adab). Imam Ghazali mentions that oneshould have Wudu, be soft spoken and quiet, face theQiblah, keep the head lowered and should not sit in ahaughty manner, but sit as one sits before the Master.Imam al-Nawawi adds that the mouth should be cleanedthoroughly, the place should be clean, the face shouldbe oriented towards the Qiblah and the body shouldexhibit humility. Muslims who see a person reading theQur'an should also respect him/her and if the personis reciting it with an audible voice, then they shouldlisten to the Qur'an and should be quiet. Sitting on the same level is not required, although itis nice to do that to show respect for the Book ofAllah. There is no need to exaggerate in this matter.The same level is not needed if one is not sittingnext to the reader. There is certainly no need to askeveryone in the house and in every room to sit on thesame level. May Allah bless your parents who taught you to respectthe Book of Allah. However, remember that the Qur'anis for reading. Do not put it away from you, becauseyou respect it too much. The Qur'an should be readevery day and as often as possible. Allah says, "Thoseto whom We gave the Book, they recite it as it oughtto be recited. They believe in it." (al-Baqarah2:121). Whatever portion of the Qur'an is recited, itshould be understood. We should know the meaning ofAllah's message and we should reflect on the words ofthe Qur'an. Allah says, "This is a Book that We haverevealed to you, full of blessing, in order that theymay ponder its revelations and that the people ofunderstanding may reflect." (Saad 38:29)

Q 4. I listen to tapes of the Qur'an and itstranslation in Urdu in the car. Since I have a 30-45minute commute every day, I can listen quite a bit. Myquestion is that if my Wudu is not current, or islost while in the car, can I continue to listen to theQur'an and the translation?

A 4. Imam Malik in his Muwatta has reported a Hadithof the Prophet - peace be upon him - that says, "TheQur'an should not be touched except by a Tahirperson." (Hadith no 419.) Most of the jurists explainthis to mean that one should be clean from majorimpurity (hadath akbar), i.e. the impurity thatrequires taking a bath or shower. In that situation itis required that a person purify himself beforetouching the Qur'an. Otherwise it is recommended to bein Wudu when touching the Qur'an. However, Wudu is notrequired for listening to the Qur'an from a person orfrom a tape. Of course, it is nice and good for aMuslim to be on Wudu all the time as much as possible,but this is not a requirement.

Q 5. The aim of this message of mine to you is to seekinformation/knowledge about in-vitro fertilization. Isit acceptable in Islam?

A 5. In-vitro fertilization is a new biomedical methodto help the couples who are otherwise not able to havea child through normal husband/wife relationship.Modern Muslim jurists did research on this method andin the light of the Shari'ah principles have giventheir opinions. In the following I give a summary oftheir modern Ijtihad on this subject. First of all let me explain briefly what is in-vitrofertilization. It is a biomedical method that isgenerally used when a woman due to some obstructioncannot receive the sperm of her husband into her ovum.In this case her ova is taken out of her ovary at thetime of ovulation.
This drawn ova is then subjected tothe husband's sperm in vitro in the hope that it willbe fertilized. The fertilized ovum is then maintainedin a test tube and at a later stage when it becomes anembryo is deposited into the woman's uterus. Thus awoman who would otherwise not been able to conceive ababy is able to have a normal pregnancy and the coupleenjoys the child. Based on the principles that the Shari'ah came toprotect and preserve the lineage (nasab) of the peopleand thus it is haram to marry a woman during her'iddah or to have intercourse with a woman who iscarrying another person's pregnancy, the Muslimjurists have allowed the use of in-vitro fertilizationonly between legally married couples during theirmarriage.
Thus, in-vitro fertilization is permissibleas long as the semen and ova are from the couple whoare legally married and fertilization takes placeduring their marriage, not after the divorce or deathof the husband. A divorced woman is not allowed toreceive the fertilized embryo from her ex-husband.Similarly, a widow is not allowed to take it after thedeath of her husband. Surrogacy, i.e., giving thefertilized embryo to another woman to carry on thepregnancy in her womb is also not permissible inIslam. It is also not permissible for a Muslim womanto act as a surrogate mother.

_ DrSiddiqi@aol.com

 

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