The Office of the Supreme Leader

MONTHLY AHKAM | MARCH 2022

 
Working for Someone at the Time of another Contract
Question1: A driver carries a consignment for a company and at the same time, another person gives him some goods to deliver it to the destination in addition to the company's consignment and receive a fee, but the company does not accept it. Is there any problem with the fee?
Answer: If the vehicle belongs to the company, the driver's action is not permissible and he must pay the company for using its vehicle. However, if it belongs to the driver and has concluded a contract with the company to convey its consignment, there is no problem with the mentioned fee provided that it does not conflict with the contract.
 
Anesthetizing the Incurable Patient
Question2: In cases where the patient is medically incurable and has to endure very severe pain until death, can he be anesthetized with his own consent until death so that he does not feel the pain?
Answer: If anesthesia does not precipitate the death nor inflicts significant loss on the patient, there is no problem in it with his consent.
 
Khums on Pet/Domestic Animal
Question3: In which cases, must we pay khums on animals kept at home?
Answer: In general, if we keep them to use their products (such as eggs, milk, wool) ourselves, they are not subject to khums (of course, if the products themselves are not consumed by the end of the khums year, they are liable to khums). However, if we keep the animals to eat their meat ourselves or to raise, and sell, them, their khums must be paid every year.
 
Khums on Salary
Question4: If my khums year ends on February 1st but my salary is paid on, say, 28th January, will khums to be paid on it?
Answer: If it is spent by five days after the expiration of the khums year, it is not liable to khums.
Also, saving some money for possible events is not liable to khums if after paying khums, the remaining amount is not enough and the person's anxiety is not resolved. However, it is a caution to pay khums on the unused amount after the concern is resolved (by receiving the new income).
 
The Late Father's Missed Prayer
Question5: Considering that the late father's qaḍā’ prayer is obligatory for the eldest son, if the son could not pray standing up, can he pray sitting down or must he hire another person to do the task? What if he cannot afford to hire?
Answer: If he says the prays sitting and does not hope for improvement in the future, he can pray his father's prayers sitting and he does not have to hire somebody else.
 
To Buy Meat in Non-Islamic Countries
Question6: Can a person living in a non-Islamic country buy meat from a butchery owned by a Muslim, without being sure of its being ritually slaughtered?
Answer: If it is sold to Muslims and there is a possibility that the animal was slaughtered according to the Islamic Law, there is no problem in buying meat from a Muslim and consuming it.
 
To Break One's Fast before Reaching the Trakhkhus Limit
A traveler who intends to travel the night before and travels before noon, cannot break his fast until he reaches the trakhkhus limit. If he breaks his fast before that point, he must - as a caution - observe kaffārah (atonement) of intentionally breaking the fast of Ramadan. Of course, if he is unaware of the verdict, there is no atonement.
The criterion for determining the trakhkhus limit is to be far from the last house of the city so that one does not hear the sound of the usual call to prayer in the city without a loudspeaker; Whether he sees the city walls or not.
 
The Distance between a Man and a Woman in Prayer
According to the obligatory caution, there must be at least one span distance between a man and a woman who are praying (outside Masjid al- Ḥarām), and in this case, if they stand (in the same row) next to each other or the woman stands in front of the man, their prayer is correct. It makes no difference whether or not they are maḥrams.
 
To 'Abandon' One's Hometown (Watan)
A woman who, following her husband, lives in a place other than her original city and has not intended to 'abandon' her hometown, must say her prayers complete provided that she does not know nor is certain that she will not return to her watan to live there for the rest of her life; rather, she thinks she may return there due to an accident such as divorce or the death of her husband.
However, if she decides or knows that she will not return to her city even after the death of her husband or divorce, then the 'abandonment' is achieved and it is not considered her city (watan) any more.
 
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