Q. You gave a ruling that a plot of land is liable to zakah at its current value on the zakah date. Does the same apply to a residential flat bought for the purpose of renting it in order to generate income?
M. Jaffar, Jeddah
A. The ruling you refer to applies to a plot of land bought with the intention of re-sale at a profit. As such, it is treated as a commercial commodity. A house or a flat, or any type of real estate, rented out to others has a different rule. The net amount of rent, after the deduction of any expenses incurred, is subject to zakah at the rate of 2.5 percent every year.
Singing and Ablution
Q. Is ablution invalidated as a result of a person listening to a song or singing one?
A. Pervez
A. No, why should it have any effect at all on ablution, or wudu’? When singing is free of any obscenity or anything contrary to Islamic values, it is perfectly permissible to listen to, or to sing. Once the Prophet arrived home to find that the women were out. He asked where they had gone and he was told that they were attending a wedding at some of the Ansar quarters. He said: “Why did they not take with them a maid to sing?” When asked what should such maid sing, he said some words that express friendliness. On another occasion, Abu Bakr found two maids singing in the Prophet’s home. He wondered: “Is Satan’s horn to be heard in God’s messenger’s home?” The Prophet said to him: “Leave them alone. Today is the feast.” All this suggests that the Prophet recognized that joyous occasions benefit by some singing, provided always that it is free of obscenities and immorality.
Pilgrimage by a Youngster
Q. We took our 3-year-old son with us when we went to perform the pilgrimage. We performed all duties for our son as well, taking him with us for tawaf and sa’ie, etc. However, after one tawaf we noticed the trace of an impurity on his pants. What does this entail? Is there some compensation to make?
M. Ayub
A. When the Prophet performed his pilgrimage, a woman pilgrim raised her infant son, who had not yet been weaned, and asked the Prophet whether such a child could perform the pilgrimage. The Prophet answered her: “Yes, and you earn a reward for it.”
This means that if a child below the age of puberty is taken to pilgrimage and accompanied on all duties of pilgrimage, it will be credited to him as a voluntary pilgrimage. It does not count for his pilgrimage duty which does not apply until the child has attained puberty.
Since a young child remains unaware of the great significance of such a duty as the pilgrimage, it cannot be expected to comply with all the rules. It may wet itself during the tawaf, for example. While the parents should try to ensure that the pilgrimage duties should be performed with the child being in the most suitable condition, this cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, God overlooks any shortfall in the perfection of duties. Hence, no compensation is needed from a child pilgrim.