Q. I have inherited photos of the Kaaba and Madinah which go back more than a hundred years. The photo of the Kaaba shows people praying on top of it. Could you tell me how to establish the credibility of these photos and how could they be scrutinized by Islamic research scholars.
S.N. Abbas, Gizan
A. I am grateful to my reader for sending me a photocopy of these photographs, which should be of interest to any scholarly institution that is concerned with pilgrimage and the holy places. The reader may contact the Pilgrimage Research Center at the University of King Abdulaziz in Jeddah. The photos may certainly have documentary value of the history of the holy places.
I am not certain from the photocopy I have seen that the people on top of the Kaaba are praying. They may be just standing there. But it may be that the original photo is clearer and there may be clear indications that the people are actually praying. If they are, this is certainly strange, because to my knowledge such prayer is neither recommended nor encouraged. It has not been reported that the Prophet or any of his companions offered any prayer on top of the Kaaba. The Prophet certainly knocked down all the idols that were placed on top of the Kaaba and inside it, when he took over Makkah in the eighth year of the Islamic calendar. He also ordered his companion, Bilal, to stand on top of the Kaaba and declare the athan, to emphasize that the only worship allowed in the Kaaba is the worship of God alone. All claimed partners associated with Him are false and can be of no use to anyone.
Arrangement of the Qur’an
Q.1. Could you explain the basis of the arrangement of the Qur’anic Surahs. We know that the Surah entitled Al-Alaq was the first to be revealed, but it is placed as Surah number 96 in the final arrangement. May I ask on what basis was the Qur’an arranged and by whom.
Q.2. It is said that Sarah, the wife of the Prophet Abraham, was unhappy when his other wife had given birth to his first son, Ishmael. She asked him to banish her and that was the cause for Abraham taking both wife and child to the barren valley of Makkah where he left them. Was Sarah actually so jealous?
Q.3. Since the Shia praise Ali all the time, rather than God and His messenger, and since they do not say the athan as we do, can we consider them Muslims?
I. Hassan, Alkhobar
A.1. The Prophet received revelation of the Qur’anic Surahs as and when God chose to bestow on him new revelation. At times several Surahs, particularly the longer ones, were being revealed to him concurrently. The Prophet was instructed by the angel Gabriel who brought him the revelation where to place every new passage. Thus, the arrangement of the text of each Surah was given by specific instruction from on high.
Similarly the arrangement of the Surahs in a specific order was given by the Prophet, who indicated it mostly by reading the Surahs, particularly in prayer, in a specific order. There are some reports about the arrangement of the Surah being done without any specific authority given by the Prophet, but there is no basis for this assumption. The fact is that when the Caliph Abu Bakr instructed Zaid ibn Thabit to collect the original writings of the Qur’anic revelations, Zaid produced a whole copy of the Qur’an. It was arranged in the order we have today. This was done in the first two years after the Prophet’s death, since Abu Bakr ruled for less than two years.
Later at Uthman’s time, copies were produced and sent to various centers of the Muslim state to be the reference copy in each center. These, also produced by Zaid ibn Thabit, were based on the first collection. There was no disagreement among the Prophet’s companions with regard to the ordering of the Surahs. This shows that an arrangement was made by the Prophet himself as he taught the Qur’an to his companions.
The question remains why the arrangement did not follow the chronological order of revelation. The answer is that the Qur’an was revealed over a period of 23 years, with passages and Surahs revealed in connection with certain events. This was highly beneficial as the Qur’an addressed cases when they actually took place. But when its revelation was over, its arrangement should take into consideration the needs of later generations of Muslims. The arrangement reflects what God wishes His book to be like. Hence, He gave His instructions to His messenger to indicate its arrangement, with both Surahs and verses placed at their appropriate positions.
A.2. The report about Sarah, Abraham’s wife, is correct to the best of our knowledge. Sarah was susceptible to all the feelings and emotions of ordinary women. Hence, it is not surprising that she should feel jealous when her husband was given a child by his second wife, while she, an old woman, had no children. As Abraham showed great care and tenderness toward both mother and baby, Sarah must have felt that she was reduced to a secondary position. Hence her demand that both be taken away. It was God who commanded Abraham to take his wife and child to the valley of Makkah and leave them there. That was for a definite purpose of His, and He does what He wishes.
A.3. It is true that the Shia accord great respect to Ali, placing him above other companions of the Prophet in their esteem. But neither this, nor the additions they have in the athan, or call to prayer, is reason to consider them nonbelievers. How can anyone say so when they declare that they believe in the oneness of God and the message of His messenger, Muhammad (peace be on him).
Zakah liability with loan outstanding
Q. I used to have some savings and I paid zakah regularly. However, recently I used up half my savings in part payment for a house I bought on mortgage. The remainder of the mortgage loan is to be paid over a period of 25 years. The other half of my savings is still in my bank. My question is whether I should pay zakah on this amount considering that I am in deficit when I put my loan against my savings.
M. J. A, Riyadh
A. The reader says that he asked scholars and he received two different opinions. He wants to be reassured which view to follow. The short answer is simply: Yes, you should pay zakah on your savings, the mortgage loan notwithstanding.
I believe that a mortgage loan should be looked at differently from other borrowings when we come to consider zakah liability. It is a loan that is not expected to be paid in full at any time, until the agreement has run its course. Should the borrower decide to pay it off, that is a matter of his own choosing.
If the lending bank or building society learns that the borrower has been doing well in business and has become a millionaire, they would not think of asking him to pay up the outstanding part of his loan. The arrangement is such that he is required only to be up to date with the monthly installments on his loan.
When a mortgage is taken out, the lender and the borrower separately calculate the income and liabilities of the borrower to ensure that he can honor his commitment under the mortgage agreement. Moreover, he receives a great benefit as a result of the agreement, which is the ownership of the whole house or apartment and its full use. All this goes to show that he is never in the position of a net debtor who is required to repay as soon as possible. This means that we look at the mortgage arrangements in a totally different light. This is an arrangement which benefits the person taking the mortgage without putting him under any strain. There is no justification for exempting him from zakah on his savings. He should pay zakah.
To my mind, the only way for him to be exempt from zakah is to use his savings in part repayment of the mortgage loan. But he does not wish to do that because he wants to have some ready money for future commitments or for an emergency. That is what every one keeps savings for, and all who have such savings have to pay zakah. Hence, he should be keen to seek God’s blessing by the payment of zakah on his savings.
Answer to Mr. Bassam in Riyadh
You have heard someone on television describing a certain practice as forbidden and you want me to tell you the reason. I do not think that your request is fair. You should ask the person who gave that verdict for the basis of his verdict. To ask someone else is wrong because he may not have the same view. Moreover, the person concerned might have based his answer on some information that was given to him. When you go to someone else for explanation, you do not provide the same information. The whole thing becomes inappropriate. With regard to the particular question asked, I do not know the basis for the answer the man has given. If it was a general question, then I feel that the answer is only partially correct. I cannot go into more details.
