Q.1. When I want to do the Umrah, while I am living in Makkah, do I have to go to the mosque at Taneem to start my Umrah, or could I start from home?
(Name and address withheld)
A.1. If a person staying in Makkah wishes to do the Umrah, that person should go to the nearest point outside the Haram area, which is known as Taneem, and start the ihraam there. But this is done by people coming from outside the Hil area, for whom travel is a problem. They try to take the opportunity of their presence in Makkah to do the Umrah repeatedly. While this is acceptable, it is not particularly recommended. They should do like the people of Makkah, who do not go out of the Haram area to start the Umrah. In fact the people of Makkah do not do the Umrah except on their return from travel away from Makkah. What they can and should do is to offer the tawaf as frequently as possible.
This is the right way. If you analyze the Umrah, it consists of four duties, an intention, ihraam, tawaf and sa’ie. Thus, the last two are the basic ones in performing the Umrah. The sa’ie is never offered voluntarily. It is a duty of both the Umrah and the pilgrimage. Hence, residents in Makkah should not go out of it in order to start a voluntary Umrah. In the time it takes them to do it, they can perform at least three tawafs depending on how crowded the place is. Therefore, my advice to this lady is to do the tawaf voluntarily as often as possible, and not to do the Umrah, which is not recommended for the people of Makkah.
Zakat on Closed Shop
Q. I bought a shop some four years ago in a shopping center when it was still under construction. However, the center has proved a real failure, with only a few shops open and a few customers around. I could not start business there in the circumstances. I offered the shop for sale, but I have not managed to sell it yet. What is the situation regarding zakah on this shop?
Kamran A.K. Ghulam
A. Zakat is due on any money or property that is liable to growth. If it has no such liability, then no zakah is payable for it. Since the money you paid for this shop is idle, and is not liable to growth, you do not have any zakah to pay for it. In fact, this remains the case if you start your business there, because the shop itself where the business is conducted, or the premises where a company has its offices, or the building where a factory is located is not liable to zakah. On the other hand, if you intend to sell this shop when you can get a reasonable price for it, you have to pay zakah on the sale price when you sell it.
— Arab News Islam 29 September 2003