Q. Could you please tell me whether the Sept. 11 attacks were acts of jihad or terrorism? Would those who were killed in them be martyrs? What about other acts such as those done by Hamas and similar groups?

S. Hanif

A. Islam does not approve of indiscriminate killing in any situation. When Muslim armies went out to war in the early period of Islam, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his successors like Abu Bakr and Umar gave them clear instructions.

They ordered the army not to kill a child, a woman, an elderly person, a priest or anyone who is not engaged in the fighting or helping the enemy fighters. The attacks on the US that took place on Sept. 11 involved hijacking planes and flying them into buildings.

The passengers in the planes were innocent bystanders and the people in those buildings were the same. Those who launched this attack did not consider them so, because they followed a mistaken view that everyone who pays taxes to the US government is aiding war against Islam. This view is seriously defective, because people have to pay taxes or they will be in great trouble with their government. Besides, to ask every citizen in the world to have an informed opinion on the justice of our cause and then to take an attitude of peaceful disobedience to their government is to live in a dreamland. Had people been able to judge things in this way, they would all be very religious. God says in the Qur’an that He could have made all mankind a single community, but He has not done so. So, how can we impose our views or beliefs on people?

I cannot understand how a Muslim could justify boarding a plane, intending to kill all its passengers by flying it into a building used by thousands of civilians. This is simply terrorism and cannot be justified under Islamic law. The operations launched against Israeli occupation are totally different. They are undertaken against occupiers who have turned the local people, Muslims and Christians, from their homes and lands, desecrated mosques and terrorized the population into leaving their land. To resist Israel by all means available to us is justified under divine and human law. It is indeed Israel and its supporters that are engaged in a gigantic and continuous act of terrorism.

Division of Inheritance

Q. We have a house left for us by our deceased parent, which is worth 500,000 rupees. Could you tell us how it should be distributed among us, considering that we are two brothers and five sisters.

Q.A. Khan

A. Assuming that you are the only heirs, which would be the case if you have no grandparents and both your parents are dead, then the property should be divided into nine equal shares. Each of the five daughters gets one share and each of the two sons gets two shares.

Tawaf on Behalf of Others

Q. I have been told that it is permissible to perform the tawaf on behalf of anyone, regardless of his or her status. However, someone else has told me that this is only so, if the person on whose behalf we are offering tawaf is invalid, poor, too old or deceased. Please clarify.

Hajra Kader, Johannesburg

A. The Prophet tells us that tawaf is a kind of prayer, except that it is not invalidated by ordinary talk. It is an essential part of the pilgrimage and the Umrah, whose validity depends on the performance of tawaf. Other than this, it is recommended, or a Sunnah, at any time. It is permissible to offer the pilgrimage and the Umrah on behalf of another person who is unable to offer such a duty personally, as in the case of a deceased person or one who suffers from a chronic illness. We cannot offer such a duty on behalf of one who is able to undertake the journey physically and financially, but happens to be too busy or unenthusiastic about performing his duty for any reason. Some people do not offer their daily prayers, or offer them intermittently. We cannot do anything to help them. Similarly, if a person has the wherewithal to offer the Umrah or the pilgrimage, but does not take steps to do so, we cannot help him by offering these duties on his behalf even if such a person happens to be a parent or a dearly beloved relative.

To offer tawaf on behalf of another person is the same as offering two raka’ahs of Sunnah on his behalf. Why should we do so, if the person concerned does not want to pray? Moreover, to offer something on behalf of another person is limited to acts of worship that admit performance by proxy. There is clear difference among scholars as to whether this is permissible in the case of prayer, fasting and other physical acts of worship. It is perhaps the weightier view that such acts of worship cannot be offered by proxy. The pilgrimage and Uumrah are different because they have been clearly stated by the Prophet to allow that. Financial acts of worship, such as sadaqah, may be offered on behalf of others.