Q. A person spends most of his salary to support his family, paying for all their needs. He manages to save 200-300 riyals a month. His wife has a good amount of jewelry, but she keeps most of that back home, and what she has here she wears regularly. His father has several houses which he rents. How much zakah should this person pay?
M. Iqbal
A. The first thing to understand in connection with this question is that zakah is an individual duty, just like prayers. Nobody is responsible for another person’s duty. You cannot join together the zakah liability of your father and your wife, holding yourself responsible for its payment, just like you cannot join their prayers to yours. Each is responsible for the fulfillment of their own duties. Your may be much richer than your father, but this does not mean that his zakah liability can be joined to yours. If you pay his zakah, then this is a gift you are making him.
In practical terms, this reader’s father has to look after his own zakah, paying it annually. The son is not responsible for that. As for his wife, she is also responsible for her own zakah, if any. If all she has is her jewelry, then she needs to understand that jewelry kept for personal use is not liable to zakah. Although most of it is kept back home, it is not held for investment or future sale. As such, it is not zakahable.
As for the person himself, what is liable to zakah is his savings. He does not pay any zakah on the amount he spends to look after his family. Since his savings are modest, he may not be a zakah payer. For a person to be liable to zakah, that person must be in possession of an amount equal to or above the threshold of zakah, which is the equivalent of 85 grams of gold. When a person has that amount, he should mark the date he owns it as his zakah date. Every year on the same date, he or she should calculate what they have. If it is still above the zakah threshold, then he pays zakah at the full amount of his savings, at the rate of 2.5 percent.
Is My Daughter a Martyr?
Q. My daughter was killed when burglars broke into our home and made away with some of our property. Some people in my home country tell me that she is like a shaheed or martyr. Could you please confirm if this is correct? May I also ask what can I do to make her happier in the life to come?
A. Tawasil
A. The Prophet said: “Whoever is killed defending his property, himself, his religion or his family is a martyr.” (Related by Ahmad and Al-Tirmidhi) There are other Hadiths which confirm this. Since your daughter was killed during an aggression on your family, then she is, God willing, a martyr, or to use the Islamic term, a shaheed.
What you need to know is that those mentioned in the Hadith are considered martyrs, but have different rulings from that applicable to a martyr who falls in war, defending the cause of Islam. Such a martyr is not given a bath, but he is buried in the same clothes he was wearing when he was killed. But the other martyrs, such as those mentioned in the above-quoted Hadith are given the same preparation for burial as other people: they are given a bath and wrapped in white cloth, then a special prayer for deceased people is performed for them before they are buried. In the hereafter they are given the same reward God gives to martyrs in war. They are forgiven all their sins, except those what they might owe to other people. This means that if any such person has done some injustice to another person, he will still be accountable for it. If he owes money to someone, his debt should be paid.
There is much that you can do to increase your daughter’s reward with God. The best thing is to offer the pilgrimage and the Umrah on her behalf. If she could afford to do the pilgrimage but she had not, then it is a duty that you or a son of yours should do the pilgrimage on her behalf. If she could not afford that, then doing the pilgrimage on her behalf would count as a voluntary pilgrimage and she would have its full reward. You can also donate to charity and pray to God to credit the reward of such charity to her. You can also read the Qur’an and request God to credit the reward of your recitation to her. You should also pray for her forgiveness and ask God to bestow mercy on her. All this will increase her reward, and will also earn you a goodly reward from God.
Parents’ Investment
Q.1. My parents invested an amount of money in a national savings scheme over ten years ago. Upon maturity, I received just over three times the original amount. Is it permissible for me to take it?
Q.2. I have some money for investment and I do not know anyone to trust with my money. As a junior medical doctor, I have no way of running a business. A bank’s welfare savings scheme, which pays an annual rate of profit at 7 percent seems my only option. Is this permissible?
Q.3. As a gynecologist, I examine women patients internally. Does this require me to have a fresh ablution if I wish to glorify God in between patients?
Q.4. As a woman, is it permissible for me to travel alone abroad for further study?
A. Ghafoor
A.1. Without knowing the details of the scheme your parents invested in, I cannot give you a ruling on its validity from the Islamic point of view. However, if the investment was made by them in your favor, and you had no say in the choice of the scheme, it is perfectly permissible for you to take the money. This is a gift made to you by your parents and you are not required to look into the way the money was earned.
A.2. I cannot give you guidance on the particular scheme the bank operates without knowing its details. However, in your situation, investing with a bank is far more advisable because it is much more secure investment. Having said that, my advice to you is to invest with an Islamic bank, or with a bank that operates an Islamic investment scheme, because you will then have the benefit of secure investment with Islamic acceptability.
A.3. You do not have to have a fresh ablution for such task as glorifying God, because His glorification can be done in any situation, whether we have ablution or not. I suppose that when you do an internal examination, you wear disposable gloves. If you take them off after an examination, your original ablution remains valid.
A.4. If you can do your studies in your home country, that is much better for you. If this cannot be done, and you cannot have a mahram to accompany you when you travel, this becomes a case of need, which is treated in the same way as cases of necessity, permitting you to travel alone. Besides, modern ways of travel ensure safe companionship.
The idea of a mahram traveling with a woman is required to ensure the woman’s safety. A woman traveling on board a flight is safe, since the crew are required to ensure that no passenger is molested by another.
