Q. Is it clearly mentioned in the Qur’an that interest is forbidden? If so, could you please define interest. What should people do if they do not have Islamic banks and they are forced to use the present banking system? How can one who does not know how to run a business invest his or her savings to draw an income to meet their living expenses? Is working in a bank forbidden?

F. Majeed

A. The Qur’an states a very clear and strict prohibition of riba, or usury, which is what a lender gets from a borrower in excess of the principal amount of the loan the former may have advanced to the latter. This amount normally increases if the time of repayment is extended. The prohibition in the Qur’an is stated in the clearest of terms, in verses 2: 275-280. The question that arises here is whether interest is included in such prohibition.

Most scholars are of the view that interest is the same as usury which is prohibited in the Qur’an. However, some scholars have argued that interest is different. They consider that when a person opens a bank’s savings account, he is not in the position of a lender to the bank. The bank uses the money in different forms of investment and gives returns. While this argument has some validity, it has not been sufficient to convince scholars that interest is not a form of usury. Hence most of them maintain that it is forbidden. This whole area needs to be considered in more depth by scholars and economists at the same time. As for investing savings, most banks offer schemes of investment that do not earn interest. Rather they earn profits and may even incur a loss. They rely mostly on investing in shares of large companies. This is not the same as dealing on the stock market. This form of bank investment is permissible. It may generate a better income than any savings account that earns a fixed rate of interest.

Because a considerable part of a bank’s activities involves interest, it is better to avoid working in a bank, because the Prophet has cursed the person who takes usury, the one who pays it, the one who writes the contract between the two and the witnesses to the contract. However, if one’s work in a bank does not involve this aspect, then it is permissible.

Snakes

Q.1. Could you explain what zakah is payable on gold jewelry.

Q.2. One morning when I woke up I found a snake in my bedroom, and my husband says that he saw something similar two weeks earlier, but he was not sure because he did not have his glasses on. He killed the snake but people say that it will return, or that it is a jinnee, or that it is envy. This has left me scared. Could you please advise whether any of this is real.

D. Al-Jabry

A.1. I have repeatedly explained that women’s jewelry are not liable to zakah if it is held for personal use and its amount is within what is reasonable for women in similar social status. What we need to understand in connection with zakah is that it is payable on money or property that is liable to growth. Jewellery held for personal use does not meet this condition. Hence, it is not zakahable.

A.2. Snakes are animals of God’s creation. They are neither jinnees nor produced or controlled by any human feeling like envy. When an animal is killed, it cannot return. There is no question about this. However, the reader’s worry is well warranted. Since a snake was found twice in her bedroom, it may well be that a snake hole is there inside the house or close to it. Her husband must try to find it, or at least determine the entrance point of the snake and close it. It should not be left like this, because it could represent a serious hazard.

Unsatisfactory imam

Q. We are a group of women who join the congregational prayer in the mosque of our company. Some of our colleagues are careless about Islamic values, as in the case of men greeting non-Muslim women by kissing them. We have noticed that the person who leads the prayer in our mosque is lax about some Islamic observances. When we inquired about the validity of our prayer behind him, we were told that it is valid. Please confirm whether this is true.

(Name and address withheld)

A. Yes, your prayer is valid even though the Imam is known to be lax in his observance of some Islamic teachings. Islam always prefers that we do not investigate the personal practices of individuals, even though they may hold a position of responsibility. Suppose you see a colleague greeting a non-Muslim woman by kissing her on her cheeks, and a couple of hours later you see him in the mosque and he is asked to lead the prayer. You simply join the prayer and your prayer is certainly valid. To start with, you cannot determine the situation he found himself in. He might have felt embarrassed when the woman offered her cheek for a kiss. Of course he should have declined and explained to her that this is unacceptable in Islam. But he might have not been able to do so, even if he intended it. He might also have repented afterward and sought God’s forgiveness. If he did, and came to prayer, most probably God would have forgiven him. Who are we to hold him to account?

Having said that, I must add that in no way do I condone such behavior. Muslims should remember their Islamic values all the time. Some of you may speak to your men colleagues who do not fall for this practice so that they should explain to your non-Muslim colleagues that this sort of greeting is unacceptable in Islam and that they should discourage it. When the matter is approached in a proper way, an end is easily put to it.

Arrears of zakah

Q. I did not calculate zakah properly during my first four years of employment, but rather paid out some money to poor relatives. After that, I began to pay out all my zakah dues regularly. What should be done about those first four years? Could any now due payment be spread over sometime?

Abdul-Jaleel, Dammam

A. Whatever zakah was payable in those first four years remains payable now. You must calculate your liability and pay it out. If you intended the payments you made to your poor relatives as a discharge of your zakah liability, then it should be counted as such. If you did not intend it as such, it counts as a charity, and you still owe all zakah that was originally due. You should deduct only what you have already paid from your total zakah liability and pay the balance now.

You should treat this unpaid zakah as a preferred debt, which means that it is due to be paid immediately. You must not spread it over any period of time, if you have the necessary funds, because if you delay it, you never know whether you will pay it at all or not. You do not wish to come on the Day of Judgment with some of your zakah unpaid. If you do not have enough money to pay it in full, you pay what you can, intending to pay out the rest at the first opportunity.

Offering a missed prayer

Q.1. Are women allowed to touch and read the Qur’an when they are in their period?

Q.2. If one misses a prayer at its appropriate time, could one pray it after its time has lapsed, like what we do with fasting? Some people suggest that prayer cannot be offered after its time has lapsed.

Q.3. Is it obligatory for a woman to keep her face, hands and feet covered all the time?

Q.4. When a woman prays in congregation, is she supposed to read everything as she reads when praying alone?

Q.5. Can Muslims pray for the welfare of their non-Muslim friends?

S. Mustafa, Dammam

A.1. If a woman is reading a book or an article that contains some Qur’anic verses, there is no harm in reading these verses. This is the general view of scholars. But most scholars agree that a woman who is in her period may not touch the Qur’an and read any passage of it. However, Imam Al-Bukhari is of the view that there is nothing to stop a man or a woman who is in the state of ceremonial impurity, as is the case for a woman in her period, to read the Qur’an. He has judged that all Hadiths that say that this is not allowed are lacking in authenticity.

A.2. Most schools of thought are of the view that missed prayers may be offered after their time has lapsed, in what is generally known as qadha. However, a number of scholars are of the view that if a prayer is missed for no valid reason, it cannot be offered after its time has lapsed. A valid reason is sleeping through the time of a prayer, or being unconscious, or forgetting the prayer. In such cases, it should be offered as soon as one remembers or is aware of the prayer he or she has missed. If one misses a prayer because of laziness, or being busy with something else, it cannot be offered after its time. This is the weightier ruling in my view.

A.3. No, this is not obligatory. A woman need not cover her face or hands when she goes out. She should cover the rest of her body. People who insist that covering a woman’s face and hands is obligatory do not have firm evidence to support their view.

A.4. Women pray in the same way as men. Some schools of Fiqh consider that the reading by the imam is sufficient for the entire congregation. Thus, those in the congregation need only say the glorifications and the tashahhud. Other schools of Fiqh insist that everyone should read the Fatihah in every rak’ah. A third view is that if the imam reads aloud, the congregation do not read. When the imam reads in private, the congregation also read in private. Each view has its supporting evidence. Perhaps the third view is the one which satisfies all evidence better.

A.5. There is nothing to stop you praying for a non-Muslim, particularly if you include a prayer that your friend be guided to the path of truth.