We belong to Allah and to him we will return.
Subhanallah, my Father’s brother has returned to Allah.
I was fortunate to visit him moments before his departure to the Hereafter.
As I stood at his bedside, I noticed that the work of the Angel of death had begun as he looked strangely towards different places in the room, which were perfectly normal to us. He’s crossing of the divide was in full motion, his full departure imminent, and the world of the unseen became ultimately seen to him, in stages, as we are taught in the hadeeths of Baraa’ bin ‘Aazib and Abdullah bin Abbaas (May Allah be pleased with them both).
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The following is an an extract from a transcript of an interview completed in September 2021 with Sh. Dr. Sajid Umar by the Islamic Finance Advisory on Crypto-currencies. The full transcript and video link can be found here.
Key answers to the following questions are answered in this piece and are as follows:
The Idea of Money from an Islamic Perspective
When Muhammed ﷺ became a Prophet and was sent as a Messenger, the people of the region would conduct trade using the Roman gold coin known as the dinār, and the Persian silver coin known as the dirham. And at that time, these metals were used for exchange in accordance with their weight. Some sources highlight that for this period, seven gold coins were equal to ten silver coins in terms of value. This exchange rule was based on the amounts of each respected metal in weight that was present in those coins.
And accordingly, the Messenger ﷺ tacitly approved peoples’ trade based on the currency of the time, and things remained like this. This was with the exception of a few framing rules in relation to the exchange of gold and silver, when ribā became prohibited.
In terms of currency use, however, this practice continued until the time of ʿUmar رضي الله عنه. For at his time, he minted a coin upon the style of the Roman dinār, but with a metal other than gold and silver. This was called the fals. Sometimes he wrote on these coins his name, and on others phrases like (Alḥamdulillāh), (Bismillāh), and (Allāh Rabbī).
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Question:
What is the Ruling on receiving rewards banks give to their depositors for using their debit and credit cards?
Answer:
باسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن والاه
Firstly, regarding the rewards in relation to debit cards; the relationship between a depositor and a bank, from an Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh) standpoint, as per the view of the majority of contemporary Islamic Scholarship, is one of a lender (loaner) and borrower (loanee), with the depositor, in effect, being the lender, and the bank, in effect, being the borrower.
As a result, according to Islamic Law, when someone establishes a bank account and deposits money into it, they are actually lending the bank the money because the bank does not place the money in a safe-keeping box for the depositor, as should be the case in a safe-keeping transaction, but instead uses it for other purposes, with a promise to pay back the deposited amount to the depositor upon a set of agreed terms and conditions.
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Question:
What is the ruling on receiving referral fees offered by businesses to their clients as part of their referral’s program?
Answer:
باسم الله والحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه ومن والاه
May Allah reward you for your question.
In terms of the program in question; then as long as there is no fee to be paid to be a part of the program, and the relationship between the business offering the referral reward fee and the customer acting as the referrer is not one of a lender and borrower from an Islamic Jurisprudence perspective (for example: NOT between a bank and its customers), the referral fee paid to the referrer will be deemed PERMISSIBLE, and the contractual arrangement between the two parties will be equivalent to the Ja’aalah contract discussed in the books of Islamic Jurisprudence, which is considered permissible by the vast majority of the Islamic Jurists (may Allah have mercy upon them).
Regarding the rewards given by the business to the referee for signing up for the referral program, this is also ACCEPTABLE and will be viewed as a gift from one party to the other from the perspective of Islamic Jurisprudence (Fiqh), provided that the two parties do not have a lender-borrower relationship as previously stated.
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A question was asked yesterday about the word حي in the Arabic Language, and specifically in the the hadeeth of Aisha (ra) found in Saheeh alBukhari, known as the story of the وشاح (Red leather strap) and whether it refers to ‘a neighbourhood’.
In answer to the question, whilst حي does refer to a neighbourhood in the Arabic Language, it also refers to a tribe.
In the hadeeth of the story of the وشاح the term حي refers to a tribe and not neighbourhood.
However, if we ponder over the two meanings we actually can conclude a connection between the two meanings, as historically a tribe would settle in a place formulating a sort of neighbourhood, and thus the two meaning possibly being connected through one reflective term.
And Allah knows best.
Sh. Dr. Sajid Umar
Blackburn
21/06/1444
14/01/2022
One of the greatest gifts from Allah upon us is the gift of keeping hidden away from the knowledge of others our private sins.
This gift entails not just Divine Mercy, but levels of it, as through it Allah saves us from having to deal with the impact of negative thoughts harboured by others about us, because of our sins, even after we may seek forgiveness from Allah, and Allah Almighty forgiving us.
Allah Almighty is the Entirely Merciful, and He’s forgiveness over us is easy. The situation is entirely different with the creation of Allah!
With the creation of Allah, their knowledge of our sins can sometimes become intertwined with our souls. As a result, we may be remembered for our slips, mistakes and transgressions long after we pass away, even though our slate with Allah Almighty had since been wiped clean.
Furthermore, It is also for this reason that Islam commands us to keep concealed the sins of others that we may know of, and to do so religiously.
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