Q.1.As it is valid for seven people to share in one sacrifice of a camel or a cow, it is customary in our part of the world for six people to join and do the sacrifice, making the Prophet their seventh partner. Please comment.
Q.2. Why do we say one salam at the end of janazah prayer?
Q.3. Can a person perform the Umrah if he has to wear a belt wrapped around his belly, for medical reasons?
Q.4. Is it permissible for an old woman whose son is living here in the Kingdom to travel for pilgrimage with her elderly neighbor?
Q.5. Is it permissible to call the athan and read the Qur’an without performing ablutions?
Q.6. A borrower gives a piece of agricultural land to the creditor as a guarantee. The creditor takes all the products of the land. Is this usury?
S. Akhtar,Jeddah
A.1. There is no need to include the Prophet in one’s sacrifice. We have no instructions by the Prophet that doing so is recommended. As such, it is something that people have invented and it is not part of Islam.
A.2. Some schools of Fiqh say that one salam is sufficient to finish the prayer for the deceased, or janazah prayer. Others require the normal salam, turning to both right and left.
A.3. Wearing a belt during ihraam, or consecration, whether merely to hold one’s garment in position or to keep one’s money and effects, or for medical reasons is acceptable.
A.4. A woman may travel without being accompanied with a close relative or mahram, if she is traveling with what may be described as “safe company”. If a woman is traveling by plane, train or bus, this provides such company, particularly if she is with some people she knows, including women. Since this lady will meet her son on arrival, this is perfectly acceptable.
A.5. Yes, both are permissible.
A.6. If the creditor attends to all the needs of the agricultural land, such as irrigation, fertilizers, harvesting, and incurs all the expenses involved, then the produce he receives is in lieu of this expense. If he gets these without putting up the necessary expenditure, the loan arrangement is usurious.
