SHARIAsource

This fatwa states that the provision of alms (zakat) to the poor and downtrodden is a productive use thereof. Moreover, that alms given in God's name may be spent in the public interest (maslahah'ammah).

Book IV of the Compilation of Shari'a Economy Laws (Kompilasi Hukum Ekonomi Syari'ah) deals specifically with shari'a accounting, covering topics including financing, accounts payable, obligations, non-binding investments, and Islamic philanthropy (zakat, infaq, and sadaqah).

This gubernatorial regulation makes provision for the procedures relating to the Unit Pengumpulan Zakat (Alms Collection Unit), which deposits alms into the Baitul Mal Aceh (Aceh treasury). Alms are then deposited into the Kas Umum Aceh (Acehnese General Reserve) via the Aceh Government Alms account.

This regental decree makes provision for the formation of the organisation and work procedures of the Baitul Mal (treasury) of Aceh Utara (North Aceh). It states that the Baitul Mal is an independent regional institution responsible for the management of zakat (alms) and religious assets, pursuant to Islamic shari'a law. Hierarchically, the leader of the Baitul Mal is accountable to the regent.

This qanun regulates the various baitul mal (treasury or exchequer) of Aceh, their responsibilities, authority, and the personnel associated therein. The various baitul mal store and manage the alms and donations (zakat and wakaf) made by the Acehnese people in execution of their charitable obligations as Muslims. The qanun also authorises Indonesian state police officials and civil servant investigators to investigate contraventions of provisions relating to the management of alms, and prescribes a variety of punitive measures, including caning, monetary fines, and imprisonment.

This fatwa (in its attachment) states that the provision of alms (zakat) for educational purposes, especially in the form of scholarships, is rightful (sah) because it constitutes a benevolent act of charity (ashnaf fi sabilillah). More specifically, that scholarships are a form of assistance derived from alms based on the Qur'an, surah At-Taubah, verse 60, based on the understanding that charity according to a group of legal scholars (fiqh ulama) from several schools of thought (mazhab), as well as exegisis scholars (ulama tafsir), is a general utterance (lafaznya umum).

The fatwa also states that Muslim students, as recipients of alms-derived scholarships:

1. should strive for academic achievement;
2. be prioritised based on their level of impecuniosity; and
3. study that which will benefit the Indonesian nation.

This fatwa states that income derived from services is taxable for the purposes of alms (zakat) if it meets the annual threshold. There are only eight groups eligible to receive alms, as contained in the Qur'an, surah at-Taubah, verse 60. If one of those groups is not present, those alms may be distributed to groups that are present. In the interests and welfare of Muslims, funds collected that are not alms can be requested as infaq or shadaqah. The provision of infaq and shadaqah, the collection of which is regulated by Ulil Amri (coordinating body), is incumbent on Muslims according to their own financial capacity.

These materials include the results relating to gender of a perceptions survey carried out in three sharīʿa states in early 2016, which included questions on hisbah and women, zakat and gender issues, practices harmful to women, and education of girls and women. Also included is documentation of a number of public enlightenment and sensitization programs on women’s rights carried out in the sharīʿa states, and of the effect of sharīʿa implementation on the education of girls and women.

These materials are a part of The Nigeria Papers – a SHARIAsource Special Collection, compiled and edited by Independent Scholar Philip Ostien and others. 

Mohammad Fadel (Professor of Law, University of Toronto) and Connell Monette (Vice President of Academic Affairs, American Academy Casablanca) organized a PIL Forum Roundtable on the recent publication of al-Muwaṭṭaʾ – Recension of Yahya b. Yahya al-Laythī (d. 234/848) by Mālik b. Anas, distributed through Harvard University Press. This translation is based on the recently published Royal Moroccan Edition of the Muwaṭṭaʾ (Casablanca: Maṭbaʿat al-najāḥ al-jadīda, 2013/1434), and was commissioned by the Moroccan Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs. A team of Moroccan translators, under the supervision of Mohammad Fadel and Connell Monette, editors, working over the course of several years, prepared the translation.

Below are the essays contributed to the Roundtable on the ISLAMICLAWblog. Leading scholars which scholars comment on various aspects of the translation; some engage substantively with particular topics or themes in the Muwaṭṭaʾ, others comment on the translation and its style, and some combine elements of both.

Part of the Online Companion for Al-Muwaṭṭaʾ, the Royal Moroccan Edition: The Recension of Yaḥyā Ibn Yaḥyā al-Laythī.

This fatwa recommends that inherited plots of land that are not particularly expansive remain as one plot, rather than being divided between the relevant beneficiaries. This should be achieved by the beneficiaries working together in a cooperative fashion. If this is not feasible because one or more of the beneficiaries needs the financial proceeds that would be obtained through the sale of such land, it is preferable that one of the other financially-secure beneficiares purchase from any beneficiary in financial need their interest in the land. If this is not feasible, the fatwa preferences sale of the inherited land to the owner of one of the neighbouring plots of land. If this is not feasible, efforts should be made to sell the land to another Muslim who lives in the same kampung or village so that the plot of land may one day become the object of infaq/sadaqah or zakat, thereby furthering the general well-being of other Muslims, as per Islamic teachings.

This fatwa states that alms (zakat) must be spent as quickly as possible (fauriyah), both from the payer (muzakki) to the treasury (amil), and from the treasury (amil) to the recipient (muzakki). The fatwa also states that the distribution of alms to the impecunious (mustahiq) can be postponed if there is no one in need or for the greater good. The greater good is to be specified by the government by implementing regulations so that the greater good is the shari'a greater good.

Alms, the distribution of which has been postponed, may be invested (istitsmar) if those alms are:

1. distributed to businesses that accord with shari'a and current reguations (al-thuruq al-masyru'ah);
2. invested in areas which, based on a feasibility study, appear to be profitable;
3. fostered and supervised by competent parties;
4. invested by professional and trustworthy institutes/organisations;
5. invested pursuant to an investment permit obtained from the government, and the government must agree to indemnify in the event of loss or insolvency;
6. invested and there exists no pressing need such as starvation or costs that cannot be postponed at the time of investment; and
7. invested for a limited amount of time.

The applicant, Suryani, requested that the Constitutional Court review the constitutionality of art 49 (and its elucidatory statement) of Law No. 7 of 1989 on the Religious Judiciary. Article 49 of Law No. 7 of 1989 states: 'Religious courts are tasked and authorised to investigate, determine, and resolve cases in the first instance between persons of the Islamic faith in the areas of: a. marriage (perkawinan); b. inheritance (waris); c. wills (wasiat); d. gifts (hibah); e. endowments (wakaf); f. alms-giving (zakat); g. infaq; h. shadaqah; and i. shari'a economy (ekonomi syari'ah). The applicant submitted that art 49 circumscribed his constitutional right to freedom of religion and to practise that religion in accordance with that religion's teachings, as guaranteed by arts 28E(1), 28I(1) and (2), and 29(1) and (2) of the Constitution.

In dismissing the application, Justice Moh. Mahfud MD, on behalf of the court, noted that the applicant's submissions were incompatible with the relationship between the state and religion in Indonesia. Specifically, Moh. Mahfud MD held that Indonesia is not a country based on one religion, nor is it a secular state that transfers religious affairs to the individual and society. Rather, Indonesia is a state based on the belief in Almighty God (ber-Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa), which protects every person's right to practise their respective religion. In abiding by the Indonesian state philosophy of Pancasila ('five principles'), national law must, therefore, guarantee state ideology and territorial integrity, while facilitating just and courteous religious tolerance. It follows that Indonesian national law is a vehicle for national unity and that the Indonesian state is not based on majoritarianism or minoritarianism, ethnicity or race. While it can be said that Islamic law constitutes a source of national laws, it is not the sole source thereof, with customary (adat) law, Western law, and other traditional legal sources also serving as sources of national law.

The Administration of the Religion of Islam (State of Selangor) Enactment 2003 establishes the fatwā legalization process in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It also establishes and outlines the role of the mufti as the chairman of Selangor’s state fatwā committee. It is the main piece of legislation governing Selangor's syariah courts, Islamic finance guidelines, individual conversion to Islam, as well as other Islamic regulations the state has determined to regulate.