Question: Please could you advise if it permissible to join a local government pension scheme? The information I have from the scheme is that contributions are made from monies paid in by members and something like 4% will come from investments and it is very difficult to breakdown the investments to determine which are permissible […]
Read more...Q&A Fatawa
Do I pay zakah on an investment from which I get no return, but whose value rises?
Q: Do I pay zakāh on an investment from which I get no return, but whose value rises? I had about £51,300 on which I paid zakāh this year which left me with about £50,000. I then invested that £50,000 into a company. So now I own 5% percentage of that company. I am not […]
Read more...Do I have to pay zakah on shares held for me by a nominee?
Q: Do I have to pay zakāh on shares held for me by a nominee on trust? For e.g. I purchase shares in my own name via TD Waterhouse who hold legal title on a nominee basis. This means they are shown on the company register as the legal owners of the shares. However they […]
Read more...Is it permissible to work as an energy trader?
Q: Is it permissible to work as an energy trader? The role would involve trading futures contracts. الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: Trading in futures contracts does not comply with Shari‘ah requirements and so any remuneration earned for performing such activity is not halal. Essentially, a sale contract must be contracted at […]
Read more...Is my income as a para-planner halal?
Q: Is my income as a para-planner ḥalāl, since I will be doing the research but not the advising on the different products (life insurance, mortgages, fixed interest bonds, mutual funds with non sharīʿah compliant companies etc)? I am currently training as a para-planner at a small independent financial advisory firm and I wish to […]
Read more...My employer wants me to exaggerate the time spent on tasks on a timesheet for a client
Q: My employer wants me to exagerate the time spent on tasks on a timesheet for a client. الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: You cannot make a dishonest claim even if it is at the insistence of your employer. If it is normal practice that the time taken to register the time […]
Read more...Is it permissible to remind a friend of a loan repayment they owe me?
Q: Is it permissible to remind a friend of a loan repayment they owe me? الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: It is permissible for you to ask for the amount you loaned to your friend.
Read more...Gifting a land without registering the name of the giftee
Q: My father bought much land and properties overseas during his life. One particular piece of land was bought especially for my mother and he expressed this to her and there are witnesses to his statements. She accepted the gift but did not want her name showing on the property documents as she believed her husband’s […]
Read more...Are the earnings of a non practicing Muslim halal?
Q: I have a sister who works as a teacher for a school but she does not take hijab nor pray, but she stays in our house, is her earnings halaal? الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: The lawfulness of any earnings depends on the lawfulness of the role being performed. Failure to maintain […]
Read more...In the case of an insurance claim, can one include the value of the premiums paid for other cars?
Q: I understand that with car insurance claims, one should only recoup a sum equivalent to the total paid to a particular company to date, and any excess received beyond this sum be ‘repaid’ through future premiums to that same company. In both cases (historical payments and futures insurance cover), can one include the value […]
Read more...The time value of money in Islam
Q: A father invested 850,000 rupees into an interest profit scheme in Pakistan in 1995 in one of his sons name. In 1995 the value of the rupees was strong. The rupees rate to the English pound was £1=55 rupees. Therefore 850,000 rupees was £15,454 in the year 1995. After 20 years, in 2015 the interest […]
Read more...Is it necessary for Zakat to be allocated and spent within 1 year of receiving the donation?
Q: What is the time-period for dispensing Zakat? Is it necessary for Zakat to be allocated and spent within 1 year of receiving the donation? الجواب حامدا ومصليا ومسلما ومنه الصدق والصواب A: Zakat should be distributed as soon as possible. If there are procedural delays in the PROPER discharge of zakat which includes proprietary […]
Read more...