Justice Mufti Taqi Usmani (DB)

warning: Creating default object from empty value in /var/www/docroot/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.pages.inc on line 34.

Bid’ah—A Henious Sin

Cont'd from previous issue

Cont'd from previous issue

Deen (Faith) is the name of compliance
May Almighty Allah impress firmly on our hearts that Deen is really the act of complying with the injunctions of Allah and His Prophet. It is not at all Deen to forge something from one's own will. Two words are used in the Arabic language in this behalf. The one is (Ittibaa), meaning to comply with the Injunctions of Allah and His Prophet, the other word is (Ibtidaa) meaning the invention of something from ones own choice and will and complying with that. When Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq was appointed Caliph his first address as Caliph contained the following words:
إني متبع وليس متعدع (طبقات ابن سعد)
I am a follower or complier; I am not a Bid'ati (Innovator).

Bid’ah—A Henious Sin

All praise is to Allah. We praise Him and seek His help, and we believe in Him and rely on Him. We seek refuge with Him from the mischief of our souls and from the vices of our deeds. There is none to lead him astray whom Allah guides and there is none to guide him whom Allah lets go astray. We bear witness that there is no God but Allah alone and that He has no partner. We also bear witness that our sire, our Prophet and our Master, Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger.

Be Quick in Doing Good

Cont'd from previous issue
A Will is valid only up to one-third of the property left.
It should be noted that some people desire to make a Will to finance some charitable work for permanent reward, so that the investor may continue to receive its reward even after his death. If a person makes a Will in his lifetime, while he is hale and hearty, that so much amount should be given to this or that needy person or invested in such and such charitable work after his death, this Will shall be valid only up to one-third of his legacy and not more than that. That is why the Holy Prophet (S) has kindly advised that a Muslim should give money in charity as soon as the urge for charity arises in his heart.

Set aside a portion of your income for charity.
I have already mentioned a tried method of doing this. If it is followed, a person is enabled to practise charity, or else we have become used to postponing charitable work.

Limits of Reason—II

Cont'd from previous issue
The hopeless condition of the Organisation that advocates Freedom of Thought
There is a renowned International Organisation known as "Amnesty International", with its Head Office in Paris - France. Sometime ago a research scholar of this organisation visited Pakistan for carrying out a survey. He also called on me for an interview. He began his interview by saying that it was the aim of his organisation to work for the freedom of thought and to secure the freedom of many people who are suffering from torture in prisons on the charge of their freedom of thought and we want to liberate them. This, he said, is an issue about which there is no dispute. He told me that he had been sent to Pakistan to collect the opinions of different classes of people in this country. He wanted to question me also on this subject.

The Survey being carried out today
I inquired from him about the purpose of the survey.

Limits of Reason

Discourse from Islaahi Khutbaat
This is not the first occasion for me to attend the various training courses of this Academy. I have had the opportunity to address some of the training courses held from time to time even before. On this occasion I have been called upon to talk to your assembly on the topic of Islamisation of laws, which is a very lengthy topic and comprehensive. However, in the short time I have at my disposal, I wish to invite your attention to only one aspect of the Islamisation of Laws.

The term "Fundamentalism," has become a word of Abuse
It is generally demanded by the Muslim population that our law, our living, our politics, rather every aspect of life should be moulded the pattern of Islam. A question naturally arises as to why and on what grounds life should be so re-shaped and re-formed.

Principles of Shariah Governing Islamic Investment Funds

The term "Islamic Investment Fund" in this article means a joint pool wherein the investors contribute their surplus money for the purpose of its investment to earn halal profits in strict conformity with the precepts of Islamic Shariah. The subscribers of the Fund may receive a document certifying their subscription and entitling them to the pro-rated profits actually accrued to the Fund. These documents may be called "certificates" "units" "shares" or may be given any other name, but their validity in terms of Shariah, will always be subject to two basic conditions:
First, instead of a fixed return tied up with their face value, they must carry a pro-rated profit actually earned by the Fund. Therefore, neither the principal nor a rate of profit (tied up with the principal) can be guaranteed.

Islamic Finance

Inheritance under debt
The fourth example is the property left by a deceased person whose liabilities exceed the value of all the property left by him. For the purpose of brevity we can refer to it as 'inheritance under debt'.
According to the jurists, this property is neither owned by the deceased, because he is no more alive, nor is it owned by his heirs, for the debts on the deceased have a preferential right over the property as compared to the rights of the heirs. It is not even owned by the creditors, because the settlement has not yet taken place. They have their claims over it, but it is not their property unless it is actually divided between them. Being property of nobody, it has its own existence and it can be termed a legal entity. The heirs of the deceased or his nominated executor will look after the property as managers, but they are not the owners.

Islamic Finance

The Principle Of Limited Liability
1) Introduction
2) Waqf
3) Baitul-Mal
4) Joint Stock
5) Inheritance under debt
6) The Performance of the Islamic Banks - A realistic evaluation
Islamic Finance

Introduction
The concept of 'limited liability' has now become an inseparable ingredient of the large scale enterprises of trade and industry throughout the modern world, including the Muslim countries. The present chapter aims to explain this concept and evaluate it from the Shari‘ah point of view in order to know whether or not this principle is acceptable in a pure Islamic economy. The limited liability' in the modern economic and legal terminology is a condition under which a partner or a shareholder of a business secures himself from bearing a loss greater than the amount he has invested in a company or partner-ship with limited liability. If the business incurs a loss, the maximum a shareholder can suffer, is that he may lose his entire original investment.

Islamic Finance

Salam as a mode of Financing

It is evident from the foregoing discussion that salam was allowed by Shari‘ah to fulfill the needs of farmers and traders. Therefore, it is basically a mode of financing for small farmers and traders. This mode of financing can be used by the modern banks and financial institutions, especially to finance the agricultural sector. As pointed out earlier, the price in salam may be fixed at a lower rate than the price of those commodities delivered at spot. In this way, the difference between the two prices may be a valid profit for the banks or financial institutions. In order to ensure that the seller shall deliver the commodity on the agreed date, they can also ask him to furnish a security, which may be in the form of a guarantee or in the form of mortgage or hypothecation.

Islamic Finance

Sub-Lease

If the leased asset is used differently by different users, the lessee cannot sub-lease the leased asset except with the express permission of the lessor. If the lessor permits the lessee for subleasing, he may sub-lease it. If the rent claimed from the sub-lessee is equal to or less than the rent payable to the owner / original lessor, all the recognized schools of Islamic jurisprudence are unanimous on the permissibility of the sub lease. However, the opinions are different in case the rent charged from the sub-lessee is higher than the rent payable to the owner. Imam al-Shafi‘i and some other scholars allow it and hold that the sub lessor may enjoy the surplus received from the sub-lessee. This is the preferred view in the Hanbali school as well. On the other hand. Imam Abu Hanifah is of the view that the surplus received from the sub-lessee in this case is not permissible for the sub-lessor to keep and he will have to give that surplus in charity.