Your Questions Answered (volume 7)

Q. 80: Khums On a Purchased Godown

A man has bought a godown for US$ 200,000/- which he is turning into a Show Room. Does he have to pay Khums on the purchase price? A: If the Khums of the price was not given before, then he will have to pay US$ 50,000/- for Khumus (US$ 250,000/- total minus US$ 50,000/Khums = US$ 200,000/- Net).

Q. 81: HOUSE BOUGHT BUT GIVEN ON RENT.

A man is staying in a house, against which there is a demolition order. He therefore bought a house, for his own residence. Having bought the house, he decided to give it to rental for a couple of years, before he moves in.

Does he have to pay Khumus on purchase price of the house.

A: Yes. Had it been used straight-away for his own residence, and if the price was paid from the same year's saving in which the house was purchased, then there was no Khumus due. But if the money was from previous year's savings, there will be Khumus payable. Also, if it is not used for own residence, Khumus has to be paid

Q. 82: ACCOUNTING OF KHUMUS:

I got married in 1970 and I received dahej money of Shs. 2,335/- which I deposited in a savings account with National Bank of commerce. I was working after marriage and used to earn salary of Shs. 400/- per month from my husband's company which was being deposited in the savings account by banker's order. Upto 1978 I was deposited with shs.

22,800/- as my salary which I never touched. All this attracted interest. Upto now my balance in my Savings Account is Shs. 627,034.65. So I have earned interest of Shs.601,899.65!! But I have never paid Khums on it.

I have now realised my mistake. Can you please guide me as to what am I supposed to do now.

A: I advise you to begin your financial year from the date of your marriage. Let us say, it was 1st August, 1970. Now every year on 31st July your financial year will close. Whatever you had got in your account upto 31st July 1996, is your saving, on which you have to pay Khumus.

As for the money that has entered into your account between 1st August, 1996, and 31st July, 1997, if you have spent something from it on household expenses, that will be exempted from Khumus, but you will pay Khumus on the balance. If you have not spent anything from that amount, then Khumus will be paid from the whole amount.

Q. 83: GIFTING EXCESS MONEY TO AVOID KHUMUS:

Can a husband and wife gift their total assets to one another (which is less than their annual expenses) in order to avoid paying Khums? A: Allah (s.w.t.) says in the Qur'an: "They (intend to) deceive Allah and those who believe, they deceive not but themselves, but they perceive (it) not."

If the intention in paying Khumus is to obtain the pleasure of Allah, then such manipulations cannot remain hidden from Him, and He will deal with them accordingly. If they think that Allah is unaware of such tricks, then they are not Muslims at all.

Q. 84: NATIONALISED HOUSES:

a) In Tanzania on 22nd April, 1971 a law was enacted and assented to by the then President of the United Republic of Tanzania being No: 13 of 1971 entitled " Acquisition of Building Act, 1971".

By virtue of the said law, all buildings, residential, commercial or industrial whose cost of construction or rental value was more than one hundred thousand shillings, the Parliament empowered the President to acquire the said property if in his opinion it was in the public interest to do so. Under the said law almost all buildings owned by individuals or companies were acquired (nationlised) by the Government.

There was a provision for compensation but very few were paid and those who were paid were not in accordance with law: the legal requirement was that the compensation shall be fair, edequate and prompt. Some were paid after 5 to 10 years but not adequately. Others have not been paid at all.

Now the problem we face is this: If the owner of an "acquired" property has not been paid any compensation, can a tenant occupying such property prior to acquisition continue to occupy it and pay rent to the government?

A: If it is possible to contact the original owner, then the best course is to obtain his permission to live in that house either free of charge, or on paying some token rent. If it is not possible to contact him or if his identity or present address is not known at all, then the occupier should pay every month some amount (according to his ability) as its rent and give it to a poor Shi'a as Sadaqah on behalf of the original owner. (This reply is based on late Sayyid Al-Khoui's fatwa.)

b) Can a tenant of such acquired property take "goodwill" or "key-money" and with the consent of the Government, "transfer" it to a third party? (No doubt they have to grease or bribe an officer for such a transaction).

A: I could not find any such provision in the books of the mujtahideen -past or present. c) Can a broker or, lawyer charge fees on such transaction of an acquired property where compensation has not been paid?

A: Apparently, no one. is allowed to deal in a ghasbi property, and fee or commission obtained from such a deal will not be lawful.

Q. 85: NEED OF HOUSE AND OBLIGATION OF HAJJ:

"When a person is in need of owning a house, performance of Hajj will be obligatory on him IF he also possesses money for the house" Now the following issues emerge:

1. A tenant of National Houseing Corporation in the present state of law has no security at all. He can be thrown out, his rent can be increased at any time and his heirs cannot inherit the house a person now accupies, even if he was its owner before Acquisition.

2. This is because Rent Restriction Act only partly applies to parastatals like NHC etc.

3. And Building Acquisition Act, by Section 7 sub-section 4 states that property partly returned to owners and occupied with other persons in the building cannot "pass" by inheritance such a flat or tenement or portion of the building. Under such situation will a person be obliged to perform Hajj if he fulfills other requirements but has no sufficient fund for "owning a house"?

A: I do not have the English book, but on comparing your quotation with his Arabic Manasiku 'l-Hajj, (Mas'alah 25, p.20), there appears some ambiguity in the English translation. The Arabic book says as follows:

"If he has wealth sufficient for hajj expenses and he is in need of marriage or of buying a house for his residence or other (such) requirements; then if using that wealth for hajj would put him in difficulty, hajj will not be wajib for him; otherwise it will be wajib".

Owning a house for residence is a genuine necessity of life in the eyes of Islam. But a residence which one can pass to one's heirs is not a condition for wujub of hajj. If a rented house suffices for his present requirements, the above mas'alah is not applicable to him - the provisions of Building Acquisition Act and Rent Restriction Act nowithstanding.

You know very will that in this country, even the private houses (like other buildings) are built on plots having not more than 99 year lease. And the President can revoke the lease any time be likes. Surely nobody can say that hajj is not wajib on even those who own private houses because "they can be thrown out" any moment.

For the purpose of this mas'alah, a man should not own any other residential house, and there must be some actual deal finalised (or nearing final stages); if that deal reduces the money to such an extent that hajj is not possible, then hajj is not wajib. But an imaginary danger of eviction after some unknown future eventuality, or just a vague plan to purchase a house at some time in distant future will not exempt him from hajj.

Q. 86: 25th DHUL-QA'DAH:

According to the Mafati-hulJinan it is related that the "25th of Dhul-Qa'dah (also known as Dahw-ul-Ardh), is also the night when both Nabi Ibrahim and Nabi Isa were born and the day the earth was spread under the Ka'ba and it also is the chosen day that the Mahdi (PBUH) will re-emerge.

How come there seems to be no other source that mentions the coincidence of the birth of Nabi Ibrahim with that of Nabi Isa? Most of my Christian friends are rather surprised at this information too. What is the coincidence of the re-emergence of the Mahdi (PBUH) on the same day?

A: 25th Dhu 'l-qa'da is called Dahwu 'l-ard, because, according to ahadith, it was the day the earth was spread under the Ka'bah. As for its being the birthday of Nabi Ibrahim and Nabi 'Isa (peace be on them), it can neither be proved nor refuted: the calendar systems of the Jews and of the Arabs were and are different.

Moreover the exact birthdays of the two prophets are not known even to the Jews and Christians themselves. As for the reappearance of our Twelfth Imam (a.s.), many ahadith mention some dates of Ramadhan; others say 'Ashura day; while more authentic ones forbid fixing of any date for it. So, you may ignore such statements altogether.

Q. 87: WAS 'A'ISHAH MUSLIMAH BEFORE HER MARRIAGE?

Was 'A'ishah, the Prophet's wife, a Muslimah before their marriage? A: Yes. She was a born Muslimah.

Q. 88: WHERE AND WHEN DID 'A'ISHAH DIE?

Where and when did 'A'ishah (wife of the Prophet s.a.w.a.) die? A: She died at Medina in the reign of Mu'awiyah in the year 58 A.H. as may be seen in Kitab Al-Ma'arif of Ibn Qutaybah Dinawari (Egypt ed. p.59). It is narrated in Habibu 'S-siyar of Ghayathu 'd-din al-Harawi and Rabi'u 'labrar of Az-Zamakhshari that when Mu'awiyah began convassing from the pulpit of the Prophet to appoint his son, Yazid, as his heir- apparent, 'A'ishah opposed it vehemently. Mu'aviyah then invited her for a meal to his place in Medina. Before her arrival, he had ordered a deep pit to be dug; and covering it with a bed-spread put a chair on it. When 'A'ishah sat on it, she fell down in the pit, which was at once filled with lime and then the floor was levelled. I do not know how reliable this report is, but I have mentioned it here because the writers of those books were well- recognised Sunni scholars.

Q. 89: ABOUT SALMAN AL-FARSI (R.A.):

Was Salman Al-Farsi (r.a.) governor of Mada'in at the time of his death? When did he die and where?

A: Salman (r.a.) was appointed governor of Mada'in by the 2nd caliph. The caliph usually changed governors every two years. When he got the news that Salman (r.a.) was about to enter Medina, the caliph went out with many companions to welcome him. It was a very unusual honour paid to returning governor. The reason became clear when they saw Salman (r.a.) returning with the same robe in which he had set out. He had not taken from the treasury anything for himself during his governorate.

Then Salman (r.a.) settled in Basrah, where he married a lady. After a few years, he shifted with his family to Mada'in. I think he did so because Mada'in people spoke Persian. He died in Mada'in in the last year of 'Uthman's caliphate, i.e. in 36 A.H. (Vide At-Tabaqat by Ibn Sa'd, vol.4, p.93).

Q. 90: STRENGTH OF YAZID'S ARMY IN KARBALA:

How many soldiers were there in the army of Yazid in Karbala?

A: According to Sayyid Ibn Ta'us (a.r.) in al-Luhuf, Ibn Ziyad had sent 30,000 soldiers under various commanders to Karbala. The commander's names with number of the soldiers under them are given as under:

1. 'Umar ibn Sa'd4,000soldiers
2. Shimr ibn Dhul Jaushan4,000 "
3. Haseen ibn Numayr4,000 "
4. Yazid ibn Rikab2,000 "
5. Mazini3,000 "
6. Nasr2,000 "
7. Others11,000 "

('Umar ibn Sa'd was the commander-iri-chief.) The same, more or less, is the number given by some other authentic writers. Abu Makhnaf says: 25,000; some say 22,000, and some others, 40,000.

Q. 91: ENEMIES KILLED BY IMAM HUSAYN (A.S.):

How many enemies had Imam Husayn (a.s.) killed in Karbala? A: According to Sayyid Ibn Ta'us (a.r.) and Ibn shahrashub (a.r.) and many other scholars, the Imam (a.s.) had killed 1,950 infidels in Karbala. On the other hand, Al-Mas'udi has written in Maruju 'dh-dhahab that only 88 people were killed from the army of 'Umar ibn Sa'd. But it is a very absurd statement, and most of the authentic books refute it.

Q. 92: HOW MANY WOUNDS ON IMAM'S BODY?

Can you give me a rough estimate as to how many wounds Imam Husayn (a.s.) had sustained in the battle of Karbala?

A: According to Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (as.), there were more than 320 wounds of swords, spears and arrows on the body of the Imam (a.s.). Abu Makhnaf narrates from Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) that Imam Husayn (a.s.) was inflicted with 33 wounds of spears and 34 of swords. It means that the Imam (a.s.) had sustained more than 250 arrow-wounds.

Q. 93: ABOUT CAPTIVES OF AHLUL-BAYT:

Is it correct, as zakireen say, that Imam Zaynu 'l-'Abideen (a.s.), in spite of his illness and weakness, was made to drive the camles of the captives of Ahlu 'l-bayt from Karbala to Kufa and then to Damascus?

A: I have not seen such a report in any source book. However these books say that the Yazid's army had put iron in the neck of the Imam (a.s.) and had shackled his hands and feet with iron chains. Also, they had tied the captives in one rope before bringing them to the court of Yazid.

Q. 94: ADAM AND IBLIS:

Where was Adam when Iblis approached him? A: According to many Shi'a tradtions he was in a Jannat (garden) of this world. It was not the ever-lasting Paradise which the virtuous will enter on the Day of Resurrection.

Q. 95: IBLIS & SATAN:

Is Iblis the same as Satan? Or they are two different beings? A: They are one and the same.

Q. 96: CAN A GREAT-GRANDCHILD INHERIT WITH A GRANDCHILD?

My grandmother had a son who died and left behind two daughters and three grandchildren, two being males and one female. (Their father had died before). Now she has some property. If she dies, what are the heritable portions for those two grand- daughters and the three great-grand-children?

A: Your question does not give a clear picture. However, a nearer heir excludes the remote one. It appears from the question, that your grand-mother does not have any son or daughter, nor any of her own parents. I understand that she does have only two granddaughters and three great-grand-children. If my surmise is correct, then only the two grand-daughters will inherit her, to the exclusion of the three great-grandchildren.

If you question means that she has five grand-children (2 granddaughters from one son, and 2 grandsons plus one grand-daughter from another son) then all five will inherit her, the males getting double the share of a female.