In the name of Allah the most kind the most merciful

17th Fiqhi Seminar

(5-7 April 2008)

Subject: Violations that might invalidate a fast and some problems confronting us in the modern age:

Saum (Fast) is one of the five fundamentals of Islam. It is to abstain from eating drinking and sex from down to dusk (Sunset). The term victuals (eating and drinking) is well known and every one is aware of its sense. What ever one consumes basically passes to the stomach through the throat. Keeping this point in view the Jurists have widened the scope of victuals and have declared that every thing that reaches the void of the stomach or brain through the natural passage invalidates a fast. In this back ground the jurists of yore have debated the issue as to whether some thing that permeates in to human body through eyes ears nose or through the hind or the front out let invalidates a fast or not. There is difference of opinion among the jurists on these points. The jurists have generally differentiated between the natural passage (orifice) and the unnatural one. It has also been taken into consideration that the substance that permeates settles in a void or not. It has also been discussed that which are the organs that have a void. This subject to some extent relates to medicine and anatomy. For instance the earlier physicians believed that the brain was a void. It was due to this theory that they mentioned the brain void and the stomach void. Modern scientists reject this theory. They don't believe that there is a void in the brain where some substance may permeate and settle there in.

With new development in the medical sciences and new introductions to the medical treatment some new problems have cropped up which need to be deliberated in the light of the enjoins of the Quran and the Hadith as well as the norms set by the righteous of yore and Ijtehad (inference on the anology of the commandments of the Shariah) exercised by the jurists.

Some such issues are put up herewith for your kind consideration.

1. Certain medicines of cardiac disease are not swallowed but plased under the tongue. If the medicine is used while fasting and the particles of the medicine that dilute with the saliva are avoided to be swauowed. Will it invalidate the fast.

2. Those suffering from asthma sometimes have to use the inhaler. Air and medicine, probably in the form of powder and in a very small quantity, are supplied to the lungs through inhaler. It passes through the throat but does not reach the stomach and goes in to the lungs. Is it permissible while fasting?

3. Some medicines are administered through the steam. Its old and simple method is that the medicine is diluted with the boiling water and the steam that emanates from it is inhaled through the nose and the mouth. Now some mechanical devices are also in vogue for this purpose. Is inhaling the steam in this way is permissible while fasting.

4. One of the modern methods to administer medicine is through inoculation. The medicines is injected in any particular part of human body. It is also injected in to arteries so that it dilutes with the blood and reaches every part of the body with blood circulation. Some injections are meant to infuse medicine in to body while some have the nutritional value. Does injecting medicine in to the body or its use to make up the nutritional deficiency in the body invalidate the fast? Are there some elaborations on this print?

5. Sometimes glucose is administered to cover the salt deficiency and provide nutrition to the body. To some extent it is an alternative to diet so the patient does not feel much hungry and is safe from the debility caused by starvation. Is the use of glucose permissible while fasting when it does not infiltrate through the natural passage? But its effects on human body due to abstinence from food are also not certain.

6. Some liquid or solid medicines are administered through the hind or the front out let of human body. In piles ointment is applied on warts inside the rectum. Some medical apparent are also inserted in to the stomach to detect his disorders. Do the use of these methods invalidate a fast?

7. Some medicinal stuff is administered in to the body through the front out let as a tube is inserted in the bladder of male/female patients. In some cases fluid or solid medicine is placed in the vagina of female patients or some medical apparatus is inserted in the uterus for testing a malady. Do these methods in treatment invalidate a fast?

Will Makkah and Mina be treated as one town for the purpose of offering prayer in full or in curtailed form?

At some earlier seminars of the Islamic Fiqh Academy (India) certain decisions were taken after deliberations on various issues relating to Hajj. Now another important issue concerning the Hajj is submitted herewith for your kind deliberation in the light of the Shariah. It is hoped that in view of the significance of the issue you will kindly furnish a comprehensive answer. Your diligence and academic pursuit will Insha Allah, help the Academy to reach a conclusion on the issue under reference.

It is a fact well known to the scholars that during the days of Allah's Massenger (PBUH) and also during the subsequent periods Mina was a separate town situated at a considerable distance from Makkah. Makkah and Mina were known as two separate towns. So if some one wanted to stay for a combined period of a fortnight in Makkah and Mina he was treated as a man on journey (travellers). If he was not offering his prayer behind a resident Imam, he would offer a shortened prayer (Qasr). The scholars are also well aware that according to the Hanfis shortened prayer for a wayfarer is not just a permission but perseverance.

Over the past some years the situation has changed. The inhabitation of Makkah has crossed Mina and even beyond it, officially also Mina has been notified as a part of Makkah township, due to this changed situation a very significant jurisprudential issue has confronted us that as to whether the same old Fatwa will prevail that if some one stays for a fortnight or more together in Makkah and Mina he will be treated under the Shariah as a traveller (man on journey) and will offer curtailed prayers as was the practice during the days of Allah's messenger (PBUH) and the periods that followed.

Under the changed circumstances and Mina's annexation with Makkah on the official and factual level, the two towns will be treated as one. If some one stays in Makkah and Mina for a period of a fortnight or more, will he be treated as a resident (Muqim) and governed by the rules of Shariah meant for a resident person. Perhaps you are aware of the fact that the theologians of Indian Sub continent have differing opinion on this issue. Those embarking on Hajj pilgrimage are confused as to which opinion they should follow. It is therefore necessary that both the opinions and relevent arguments are examined minutely and the arguments in favour of the preferred opinion are recorded explicitly to enable the Academy to arrive at a definite decision.

What would be the enjoins of Shariah concerning offering curtailed prayer or in full for those who have taken a permanent residence in some other town while maintaining their relationship with their home town.

Residence is also a basic necessity for a man like food and water. For this purpose he constructs his house to live in with his family members. The place where he lives becomes dear to his heart and he calls it his home (Watan).

Just as permanent residence is necessary similarly travelling and other activities are also part of his social/economic life as many of his requirements are available in other lands and towns.

In this perspective Islamic Shariah has laid down separate rules for a man on journey (Musafir) and for a resident (Muqim). The Jurists keeping in view the commandments of the Quran and the Hadith have classified the status of a residence. They have divided it into three categories, (1) The Original home that is the original place of residence of a person. However there is a difference of opinion in the description of its details (2) Temporary residence, where according to the Hanfis one should stay at least for a fortnight or more. However the jurists have differed on the extent of the period of staying (3) staying for a lesser period than that prescribed under the second category, temporary residence, this stay will also be treated as a person on journey. There are different rules with regard to the original place of residence and the temporary one, so far as the rules pertaining to offering a shortened prayer or a prayer in full is concerned these rules are identical. Prayers in full will be offered at the original place of residence as well as at the place of temporary residence.

Due to the expansion in the meens of earning one's livelihood now a new situation has emerged. Many people while in employment some where else settle there but they maintain their connections with their original place of residence. Most of their time in a year is spent at their place of work. They visit their original home town on the occasion of Eid/Eidul Azha or when they are on long leave. When their holidays are over they return to their place of work. They gradually acquire the necessities of life at their second place of residence. The residential facilities provided there are often far better than those available at their original place of residence, some raise their own residential accommodation, some however, opt to live in rented houses. Some live alone without their families while some live with their family members.

In this background some queries are submitted herewith for your kind contemplation and response.

1. What would be the status of that place of residence where residential accommodation has also been acquired. Will it be treated as the original place of residence or otherwise? Can there be plurality of original homes.

2. Those who have not acquired residential accommodation and live in the rented houses or in the accommodation provided by their employers and live with their families, will that place be treated as their original home. If having undertaken a journey they stay there for some days with the intention to proceed on their journey, should they offer prayer in full or shortened one.

3. If at his place of work a person lives alone without his family members and does not own a residence what would be the Shariah ruling concerning such a person.

How to determine the distance of a journey

With the growth in population and migration of rural people to the cities these cities are expending rapidly. Some towns have expanded to such an extent that the distance from their one end to the other extends to more than a 100 KM. Some relief is granted by the Shariah on the basis of journey. In some cases this relief pertains to the absolute journey while some relate to a journey for a particular distance. Offering shortened prayer and not to observe fast is also a part of this relief. This distance according to the well known point of view of the Indian theologians is 48 miles.

There is almost unanimity on this point that this relief can practically be availed of when one travels beyond the limits of the town, and its suburban areas. In this perspective the following have assumed significance.

1. If some one covers the distance of 48 miles but still he is within the limits of the town and has not yet crossed its limit nor he intends to go beyond it, will he be governed by the enjoins meant for a person on journey and offer a shortened prayer?

2. If he has undertaken a journey to a place which is not situated at a distance of 48 miles from the extreme limits of the town but the distance from his residence is 48 miles or more, should he offer prayer in full or the curtailed one?

   These issues are of a specific significance because according to the Hanafis and some other jurists offering shortened prayer by a man on journey (Musafir) is perseverance and not just permission, shortened prayer (Qasr) is mandatory and not simply permissible.