Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Dialogue on votive offering, pledge and oath

A friend of mine complained to me that his mother favoured his younger brother over him. I asked him, “In what way?”. He said, “By making a sacrificial offering, as a token of thanksgiving to The Almighty for His grace in restoring the health of my ill brother”. I said to him, “Did you ask her why?”. He replied, “Yes, she said to me that making a vow for the speedy recovery of my brother does not mean she favoured him over me. She also said that my parents had already slaughtered a sheep for me, by way of aqiqah (meaning will follow) when I was only seven days old and that they sacrificed an udhhiyah (meaning will follow) for me”.

There I stopped him because the words aqiqah and udhhiyah did not make any sense to me. I promised him to resume talking about it after I had asked my father.

* What is aqiqah and udhhiyah?

- Aqiqah, my son, is an authentic sunnah (Prophetic practice, i.e. by word and/or deed), for those who can afford it. It was enjoined by the Prophet Mohammad (s.a.w). A sheep or a cow is sacrificed on the seventh day after the birth of the infant, male and female, when his/her hair is cut.

It has been related from the Prophet (s.a.w.) that he uttered adhan in the ears of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain (a.s.) when they were born and offered a sacrificial animal on the seventh day after their birth.

Those of us whose parents could not afford aqiqah at the time, may do so themselves.

* Well, this is aqiqah. What is udhhiyah?

- Udhhiyah is to sacrifice an animal on the day of Eidul Adhha. It is an authentic sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.) too. The meat of the sacrificed animal may be donated on behalf of the dead and the living, both young and adult. It may be done every year.

* Now, can I take you back to the tale of my friend and his mother. Is it compulsory that the woman fulfils her vow, or is it mustahab, like aqiqah and udhhiyah, the practice of which follows the sunnah?

- Let may say this to you.

To vow means that you commit yourself to doing a particular thing, or forsake a particular deed or word, for the sake of Allah, the Most High.

Fulfilling a vow is not always viable, unless certain criteria are met.

* What are these criteria?

- These are:

1. The wording of the vow, be it in Arabic or any other language, should be couched in such a way that the ultimate objective is to seek the pleasure of Allah Almighty, and that such wording should include His name, i.e. Allah or any of his other exclusive names and attributes.

* Should the person making the vow not say, “I am indebted to Allah, God, or the Merciful (ar-Rahman)”, what will happen?

- There shall be no obligation to fulfil the vow.

2. The thing offered for a votive offering should be ethically and religiously viable, especially when it comes to certain actions emanating from the vow.

* What if it was not acceptable, yet it could be reprehensible, damaging, or permissible?

- A vow is not in order, if the deed contingent on the vow was reprehensible or damaging. If it was permissible, it shall be deemed sound when the ultimate intention leads to a lawful action. For example, if you make a vow to drink water to be more able to worship God, your vow shall become binding.

3. The person making the vow must be adult, sane, intent on carrying out the vow, have free choice and access to that which is related to his vow.

4. That which is vowed should be identifiable and affordable.

* So, should I take it that, if a person makes a vow according to the conditions you have mentioned, he should be expected to fulfil such a vow?

- Yes, it becomes binding on him to carry out his vow, be it commission or omission of an action, during a prescribed period or for a lifetime, or donating anything.

* What if the person, who made the vow, does not comply with it out of choice?

- Kaffarah shall become due. That is emancipating a slave, or feeding ten poor people, or clothing the same number of poor people.

* If the person could not do that because of want, for example?

- He should fast three consecutive days.

* If a person makes a vow to donate some money to the holy shrines, what could be the avenues of spending that money?

- It could be spent on repairing, maintaining, lighting, carpeting, heating and air conditioning the shrine. That is, if the donor did not specify any of these avenues, or others.

* Should the person making the vow specify his donation to the person of, say, the Prophet (s.a.w.) or the Imam (a.s.), rather than the building, how is it going to be spent?

- The donated money could be distributed to the poor among the visitors of the shrine or spent on maintaining the building.

* Should a person have a strong inkling that they made a certain vow, is it compulsory on them to fulfil it?

- Yes, if they were absolutely sure.

If someone made a pledge to Allah Almighty to do something or refrain from committing a certain action, he must fulfil that pledge.

* Does this mean that a pledge is like a vow, in that it shall not be in order, unless it caters for a particular wording that includes the Name of Allah?

- Yes, and furthermore the commission or omission of the action should be acceptable, from a personal standpoint, and lawful from a religious perspective.

It is worth noting, though, that the same conditions, I explained earlier, which apply in the case of a vow, apply in the case of a pledge.

* Should the person who made the pledge deliberately choose not to fulfil it, what shall be the ruling?

- He must make up for flouting the pledge by paying a kaffarah (expiation). In this case, it is either setting a slave free, feeding sixty poor people, or observing fasting for two consecutive months.

Insofar as oath is concerned, it should be fulfilled. If it was intentionally broken, the kaffarah shall be either emancipating one slave, or feeding or clothing ten poor people. In the event of inability to come up with any of these, fasting three days in a row should suffice.

Central to the oath is the wording, i.e. it should be linked to the Name of Allah, such as “By Allah, or I swear by the Almighty, I shall do this or that”. The action, or otherwise, resulting from fulfilling the oath ought to be acceptable and affordable; it should also be lawful from a religious standpoint. It should still be sound, if he swore for a worldly gain. The person making the oath should be adult, sane, exercising free will, and clear in his mind as to the consequences of the action.

* If someone said to another, “By God, you have to do this or that”, would this be deemed as oath?

- An oath does not extend to include asking, or ordering, other people to carry out certain actions. Also, it does not cover the past. Thus, such oaths have no consequence,

An Oath shall not become binding on the son, if his father banned him from doing certain things. Neither shall it become binding on the wife, if she flagrantly disobeyed the orders of her husband.

If either makes an oath without the permission of either the father or the husband, they can undo the oath.

* A person could make an oath on the veracity of his honesty, for example. Is it all right?

- Genuine oath is permissible, yet makrouh.

As for false oath, it is forbidden; it could be among grave sins, unless it is made out of necessity.

* In what way?

- For example, if the person making the oath was aiming at warding off oppression from himself or his fellow believers. The circumstances may warrant the engaging in false oath to avert danger to one’s life, honour, or those of his brethren. However, if there was room for equivocation (tawriyah), [he may resort to it].

Dialogue on writing a will

My father started today’s session with a hadith from Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq, “Leaving a will is a (religious) duty; the Prophet (s.a.w.) had done so, and so should Muslims”.

* Yet, some people do not write wills under the false impression and pessimism that their death has drawn nigh.

- Making a will is a commendable act (mustahab); it is widely believed to prolong life. Conversely, leaving out the making of a will is makrouh and not a good thing to do.

After all, isn’t death inevitable?

* Yes, and rightly so. Allah, the Exalted says in His Holy Book,

“Every soul shall taste of death …” (3/185).

- If this was the case, why should any one of us try to evade the inevitable?

We have to be practical and get ready for that which will befall us all, whether we lived a long or a short life.

* How should I go about making a will?

- It is mustahab you start your will with the du’a (supplication, or invocation) that the Prophet (s.a.w.) taught Imam Ali (a.s.).

* What does it say?

- My father stood up, went to his library and came back with a book entitled “Al-Wasaa’il”. He read out the text of the supplication.

I was writing what he dictated to me. It reads thus:

”O Lord! Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Only Source of knowledge of the unseen and the seen, the All-compassionate, the All-merciful. O Lord! I bear witness that there is no god but You, that You have no associates, and that Mohammad is your servant and messenger. That paradise, hell, resurrection, reckoning, destiny, and justice are true. That religion is as You described, Islam as You made plain, the word as You narrated, The Qur’an as You stated. That You are God - The Glaring Truth.

May Allah reward Mohammad with the best recompense. May He bless Mohammad and his Progeny and grant them peace.

O Lord! You are my refuge at times of fear, my ally at times of trouble, and the Giver of my boon. My God and the God of my ancestors! Do not make me rely on my soul, for if You do, it will tempt me to incline to that which is evil, and allure me to abandon that which is good. Make my loneliness in the grave friendlier. And make me a pledge that I return to You with the best outcome”.

After this introduction, the person can state his will.

* What are the matters that could be included in a will?

- Things like a) taking care of one’s offspring, especially the minors among them, and the rest of his family, b) to be kind to his kindred, c) to pay his debts, if any, and d) releasing deposits in his trust. He could leave in his estate the amount of expenses that shall arise from paying for people who shall carry out certain obligations he did not perform in his lifetime, such as prayer, fasting, hajj, and paying out any amounts of khums and zakat that are outstanding. He could state that the poor be fed, and make out payments of sadaqah in his memory. He could ask for certain things to be done after his departure. In short he could ask for the implementation of anything he wished.

However, it is important to note that there are certain conditions that should be met by the person making the will. These are, they should be adult, sane, of a full legal age, hence the will of the incompetent (safeeh) shall not be in order. Nor shall be the will of a person who was coerced into making the requirement in the will. The will of the boy who is under ten years of age, provided the provisions of his will were in the sphere of what is good and for the benefit of his immediate family and relatives.

At the time of making the will, the testator should not be resigned to taking his own life. In such a case, his instructions as to his estate shall, for example, be limited to that which relates to matters and expenses arising from his funeral and his children who are under-age.

The executor cannot appoint another person to carry out the will. He could, however, authorize a trustworthy person to handle any particular matter of the will, if the testator did not specify that the executor should attend to that particular matter himself.

* Is it conditional that the will be written?

- No, any person can make a will verbally or by expressing any meaningful gesture. It suffices, too, for a will to be deemed as such, if there was any paper, bearing the signature, seal, or finger print, of the mandator, suggesting that he intended it to be executed after his death.

* Should any one of us make his will at the time of illness only?

- No, not only in sickness, in health too.

* You said earlier that one can cater for any thing he wished. Am I right?

- Yes, provided it should not be outside the pale of what is lawful and ethical.

* Could any one of us make a will, stating that all his estate, for example, be spent in a certain avenue?

- No, the will must be confined to one third of the entire estate.

* Should there be a person, who exceeded that limit, what shall be the ruling in this case?

- The will should be declared void and null, unless the heirs sanction the excess share.

* If the heirs agreed, how should they go about executing the will?

- That which should be set aside of the estate be: a) any outstanding debt, b) religious dues, c) compensations, and d) reserve money for any religious obligations that were not carried out during the lifetime of the deceased. Obligations such as hajj, prayer, fasting etc, should be performed on his behalf, irrespective of whether or not he made provisions in his will to cater for them.

That is, if the deceased did not specify that it should be taken out from his share of one third, in which case it must be taken out of it.

The remainder must be divided into three shares.

One third must be set aside to meet the provisions made by the testator and two thirds for his inheritors.

* Should provisions, made by the testator in his will, like paying a named person a specific amount of money, or granting them a property or a plot of land, and other ones pertaining to his funeral, for example, be acted upon?

- The testator has the right to make such provisions and the executors of his will should be bound by that, provided the cost did not exceed one third of his estate.

* Parts of the estate of the deceased person could sustain damage at the hands of the executor of his will. Should the latter be held responsible?

- The executor cannot be made to pay for the damage, provided that there was no negligence or malice on his part.

However, making a will is mustahab as long as death was imminent, in which case attending to certain things as a matter of priority becomes wajib; among these are the following:

1. Settling one’s debt, especially those that have become due, if one was able to do so.

As for a) the debt whose date of repayment was not due, b) that which was due but was not yet demanded by the creditors to pay, or c) that which he did not have the means to pay back, he should make a will to that effect before witnesses, if it was not common knowledge.

2. Releasing deposits in his safekeeping to their owners, notifying the owners, or making a provision to return them.

3. Settling unpaid khums, zakat, and madhalim (Material or moral restitution, or reparation, to people you have wronged), if you were liable and could afford payment.

4. Hiring a person, for money paid from his own property, to say obligatory prayers or perform hajj on his behalf. Even if he was not financially able to hire someone, and a volunteer came forward to carry such obligations out for him, making a provision in the will to this effect becomes wajib. In certain cases, however, informing a trusted person, such as the eldest son, to cater for meeting his obligations vis-a-vis prayer and hajj would suffice.

5. Advising his heirs of any money, property, or otherwise he has with other people, that they do not know of, so that their right in such dues would be preserved after his death.

* If a person did not make a will, what would happen to his estate?

- He shall forgo his right in having disposal over one third of his estate in the way he may have wished.

* How would his estate be divided?

- It be divided according to certain formula, that we will discuss in the next dialogue on inheritance.

Dialogue on inheritance

From inheritance perspective, relatives fall into three categories.

The First Group

The deceased’s parents, their offspring, and the third generation. However, by the offspring I mean the genealogical ones. In the presence of such offspring, they take precedence over the paternal and maternal grandchildren, i.e. the latter do not inherit anything.

The Second Group

The deceased’s brothers and sisters; in their absence, their offspring, paternal and maternal grandfathers and grandmothers should be given their share of the inheritance. If the brother had offspring and grandchildren, the nearest to the deceased shall have precedence in the inheritance over the more remote relative.

* Could you give me an example?

- In the presence of a nephew, he takes precedence over the son of a nephew.

The Third Group

Paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, and in their absence, their offspring shall have a right in the inheritance, according to the principle of the nearest blood relative comes first.

* Why is it that relatives of the deceased are classified as such?

- The reason is that a person belonging to the lower category shall receive an inheritance only if there was no person in the higher category.

* If the deceased did not have any person in all those categories, who will inherit him?

- The deceased’s paternal and maternal uncles and aunts, mother, and their children or grandchildren shall inherit him, if it is widely believed that they really relate to him. This, should, though, be applied without losing sight of the principle of the closest the relation, the more preference it warrants in getting a share of the inheritance.

* I have noticed that, so far, you haven’t mentioned the husband and wife in the three categories you told me about. Are they a special case?

- They inherit one another according to a special criterion in the presence of all those groups of relatives.

* What if the deceased did not have any relative from the first category, except his offspring?

- They alone have the right to inherit him, even if there was one son or one daughter.

* If they were all males or all females?

- The inheritance shall be divided equally between them.

* If they were mixed?

- Allah, the Most High says in His Holy Book,

“Allah enjoins you concerning your children: The male shall have the equal of the portion of two females”. (4/11).

* Suppose a man died and left behind a son and a daughter. How should their inheritance be divided between them?

- The estate of the deceased should be divided into three portions, two of them go to the son and one to the daughter.

* If the deceased did not have any relative from the first category, except one of his parents?

- The one who is alive takes all.

* What division will be adopted, if both the parents were alive, and the deceased did not have brothers?

- His father gets the amount of two thirds and his mother gets one third.

* What sort of allotments would the two parents and the daughter of the deceased get?

- One fifth of the estate goes to his father, a second fifth to his mother, and three fifths to his daughter.

* In the event of the presence of one of the parents and a number of male and female children, what sort of shares would they get?

- One sixth goes to the parent, and the remainder should be divided pursuant to the principle of “the equal of the two portions of the female”.

* Can we now turn to the relatives of the deceased of the second category?

- Why not?

* Suppose the deceased had either one brother or one sister; what shares would they get?

- The entire estate reverts to the brother or sister.

* Should there be numerous brothers from both the parents, how would the allocation of shares be carried out between them?

- If they were all males or all females, the estate shall be divided equally between them. If the heirs were of both the sexes, the criterion of two shares for the male and one share for the female must be upheld. That is, if they all were traced to the same parents, or they were his half brothers from his father’s side. If, however, they were half brothers from his mother’s side, they shall receive equal shares irrespective of their number.

* Well, paternal and maternal uncles and aunts are of the third category. Aren’t they?

- Yes, they are.

* Suppose the deceased did not have but either one paternal uncle or aunt, what would happen to the bequest?

- The entire estate reverts to that particular person.

* Should there be numerous paternal uncles and aunts, what portions would they get?

- The bequest must be divided into three parts, two parts go to the paternal uncles and one to the maternal ones.

* What about the inheritance of husband and wife?

- The wife has a special treatment when it comes to inheritance. She is not entitled to some items of the possessions of her dead husband. This includes capital assets such as any land, in general, or the value thereof.

She can, though, receive a share of the value of, not the corporeal, property left by her deceased husband, such as plantation and trees. She also gets her share after the property has been properly valued. The rest of the inheritors shall not have the right of disposal over any part of the estate that may yield a share to the wife, except with her approval.

* What about other material possessions, i.e. other than those you have explained early on?

- Like other heirs, the wife inherits a share of the estate.

* Does the husband inherit his wife?

- Yes, the husband can inherit his wife without restrictions. That is, movable or immovable property, including land.

* In the event of the death of the wife, who had no offspring by him or from a previous marriage, what share would her husband get?

- The husband would get half of the estate, and the other half goes to the rest of the heirs.

* If she had offspring?

- The husband takes one quarter of the estate; the rest shall be divided between the remaining heirs.

* What share would befall a wife who had no children by her deceased husband?

- She would get one quarter of the estate, and the rest goes to the other heirs.

* Suppose the husband had children, by her or from previous marriages, what would she get?

- She should get one eighth of the estate and the rest goes to the other heirs.

Although there are other rules governing inheritance, detailed in jurisprudence books, I should, however, mention few other points in this regard:

1. The eldest son of the deceased, exclusively, inherits certain items of the bequest, such as his copy of the Holy Qur’an, ring, sword, clothes, whether used or brand new. If there were more of these, [the eldest son should reach an agreement with the rest of the heirs. The same goes for other kinds of weapons, such as dagger and gun].

2. The murderer shall not inherit the murdered, if the murder was premeditated. Should the killing be accidental, inheritance should be upheld.

3. A Muslim can inherit a non-Muslim; the latter does not inherit the Muslim.

Dialogue on religious endowments

I started today’s session by asking my father about certain phenomenon I often notice in mosques, holy shrines, and some buildings and amenities. It is to do with the phrase “waqf, or endowment”, I see inscribed or written on the buildings themselves or on pieces of furniture therein, and sometimes on copies of the Holy Qur’an. What does this phrase mean?

- Any person can provide such things you have just mentioned and other things by way of endowment. If this is done according to shar’ie rules, the object declared as waqf shall come out from the ownership of the person who made the endowment and be used for the purposes designated in the endowment, that could be public or private. The endowment fund or property cannot be bequeathed or sold, except in certain circumstances.

The person creating the endowment could appoint a trustee to carry out the affairs of the endowment trust according to the deed of waqf.

* Does waqf have a particular mechanism?

- No, suppose a person built a place for public worship, not necessarily looking like a traditional mosque building, intending it to be a mosque, then it shall be deemed thus.

However, there are general rules that should be satisfied to make a waqf viable:

1. Continuity and permanence, in that waqf shall not be in order, if the person dedicated the endowment appointed a limited period for it to run through.

* Could you expand on that?

- Suppose you make an endowment whereby you put your house at the disposal of poor people, to live in for a year; this cannot be recognized as waqf.

2. The person who made the endowment should not be the exclusive beneficiary, or among other beneficiaries, of the endowment.

* What about a person giving the right of disposal over his property, by way of endowment, to a given person, his children, or relatives, for example?

- The endowment shall be in order, provided it is enforced at the time it was made, because private endowments should exchange hands on the spot, i.e. the donor must part with the property for the beneficiaries forthwith.

* Who should take charge of a public endowment?

- The viability of a public endowment is not contingent on a particular date.

* Earlier, you mentioned that one of the rules of a proper endowment is continuity and permanence in that the donor has no right to fix a duration during which the endowment could run, and on whose expiration his property may revert to his ownership.

- That is right. However, if there was someone wanting to donate, say, his property or assets for a particular use during a specified time, he could tie it up inalienably. That is, on the expiration of the specified period his property or capital should revert to his ownership.

* Could you expand on that?

- Suppose an owner of a vehicle said, “My car is put away inalienably for the transport of pilgrims for five years”, it should so be done, i.e. he cannot change his mind and revoke the promise. Of course, his vehicle shall revert to his ownership after the expiration of the five years.

* If the person in the example you have just quoted passed away, would this be a good reason for the vehicle to revert to his heirs?

- No, the property or any other assets that were set aside for such a purpose would stay during the entire duration specified by the owner. It shall revert to his heirs on the expiration of the term originally fixed.

* Is it within the right of any person to consecrate his property for the use of another person for his lifetime?

- Yes, it is within his legitimate right, and once he has made that decision he cannot go back on it. If he dies, though, his property reverts to his heirs.

* Suppose someone said to another, “I grant you and your family this property to live in”, i.e. without specifying the length of their stay in the property. What would happen?

- The occupiers of the property have the right to stay indefinitely; that is as long as they live. It can only revert to the original owner when they all die.

* And if the owner said to the beneficiary, “I grant you abode in my property during your lifetime”. Then the owner died. What shall be the position of the heirs?

- They have no right to evict the tenant. Should he pass away, the property can revert to their ownership.

* Can the husband consecrate one third of the produce of his grove, for example, for the exclusive benefit of his wife during her lifetime, provided that the said portion reverts to his property after her death?

- Yes, he is free to exercise such a choice.

* Can the trustee of an endowment of a mosque exercise the authority vested in him to lend some items of the furniture of the mosque for the use, outside the mosque premises, in a wedding party, for example?

- So long as such items were devoted to the exclusive use of the mosque, the trustee has no right to lend them.

* Is it permissible that such items be rented?

- It is not permissible too.

* Suppose a special fund was set up for the maintenance of a certain mosque, and that there was no need to utilize the money for that purpose. Can the fund be diverted for the same use in another mosque?

- If there was no need now, or in the foreseeable future, for that fund, and it was not feasible to vouchsafe it for the purpose of the endowment in time of need, it could be spent on all the needs of the original mosque, as the person who made the endowment had intended. Only then can it be spent on maintaining another mosque.