Debt: Incurred to help parents perform pilgrimage Q147 :In order to call my parents to perform the pilgrimage, I am arranging a loan from my employers. How far is this acceptable? A147 : Your keenness to help your parents perform pilgrimage is highly commendable. You are prepared to incur a debt for that purpose. That…
Debt: Compensation for late payment Q146 :I gave money on loan to a friend for a specified period of time. When the payment was due, my friend, though acknowledging the debt, claimed that he was not in a position to pay. What sort of sanctions has Islam prescribed in such a situation? Am I entitled…
Debt: Comments on a bad debt Q145 :In an earlier answer on Zakah and bad debts, you mentioned that we do not own our money. It belongs to Allah and we are placed in charge of it. With this concept in mind, how can we explain “loss” or “profit”? The way I would look at…
Death: Washing the dead Q144 :What is the reason for washing a dead person before burying him, when we know that the process of decomposition starts with death? A144 : When a person dies and he is prepared for burial, all his body is washed, in the same way as a living person washes his…
Death: Various traditions that follow Q143 :In our part of the world, when a person dies, particularly in old age, his family follows a number of traditions such as bring a number of people from a local Qur’anic school to read the Qur’an near his grave. They take turns in order to maintain a 24…
Death: Time of death Q142 :In some Muslim communities, when someone is very sick or dying, people sit beside him and read some verses from the Qur’an. Does this benefit the sick or dying person? May I also ask whether crying loudly near a deceased person is bad for him [the deceased]? A scholar in…
Death: Recitation for a deceased Q141 :If one recites a surah or passage of the Qur’an and finishes with supplication to Allah to forgive a deceased relative, is his action correct or not? Two Islamic magazines published in India have given opposite views on this issue. What is the best way of doing something to…
Death: Questions on death and burial Q140 :What should a dying person, if in his senses, do? What should anybody attending him do? What should be done by the family of the deceased? When the death occurs, what prayer is offered? Must the deceased be buried in a specified graveyard, or could he be buried…
Death: Questioning the cremated after death Q139 :It is authentically reported that when a person is buried after death, angels come to question him about his faith. How does this occur if the deceased has been cremated, drowned or fed to the vultures? A139 : You seem to accept that a person who is dead…
Death: Predetermined by Allah – the proper sense Q138 :Can we say that those who died in communal riots met their death as predetermined by Allah? If not, why? A138 : Of course these deaths have been predetermined by Allah. Indeed, every death is so predetermined. How else can you describe a man’s death in…
