Fathwa, - One must perform Hajj before paying for someone else's Hajj

Question
asslamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakaatuhu.my question is i made a
promise to allah to send somone for hajj.now im told since i have not
performed hajj myself i cannot send somone untill i have done it
myself.i wanted to send somone this year as promised.what should i do?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
Hajj is obligatory upon the Muslim individual who is physically and
financially capable without delay as clarifiedin Fatwa 87129. Thus, if
you are physically and financially capable to perform Hajj, then you
have to hasten to perform it without delay.This actually takes
precedence over paying the expenses of the Hajj of someone else.
If you have much money in a way you can fulfill your promise and
perform Hajj in the same year, then do that; otherwise, give
precedence to what Islamobligated you to do, i.e. perform Hajj on your
own behalf.
If you made a promise to Allaah The Almighty with a wording that
indicates commitment to pay for that person the expenses of Hajj this
year, then youshould pay an expiation of breaking an oath if you
cannot fulfill it, and pay the money for that person whenever you
areable to do so. However, ifyou did not utter a wording that
indicates commitment, then you are not obliged to do so. Allaah Knows
best.

Fathwa, - A man is not obligated to tell his family about his marriage

Question
Asalamu Alaikum. Jazakallah for your time beforehand in reading and
replying. I was married for around 1.5 years, in an arranged marriage
through family,unfortunately this marriage ended in divorce, my mother
became extremely unwellafter this news of my divorce, and i was
disowned by family, although at this point our relationship is
better.My question is that i got married again shortly after my
divorce, in secret without anyone knowing, i have not told my parents
about this because due to culture and my mothers health, itwould cause
a huge amount of problems, am iobliged to tell them when i am hiding
it to avoid arguments and fighting, and i am moving to a different
country with my wife, although i have told my parents i am moving but
not the reason why, is this wrong of me? I am still keeping relation
with my family and meet them all often.
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
It is not obligatory upon you to tell your family about your marriage
or about the reason behind moving from your country, rather it is
obligatory upon you to be dutiful towards your parents and obey them
inwhat is good.
However, if you can tell them about your marriage without causing any
harm, then this will be better.
Allaah Knows best.

Fathwa, - Inheritance of wife, mother and full sister

Question
Assalaamu 'Alaykum; Please calculate the inheritance according to the
following information -Does the deceased have male relatives who are
entitledto inherit: )A full paternaluncle( Number 4 )A cousin from a
full paternal uncle( Number 2-Does the deceased have female relatives
who are entitled to inherit : )A mother( )A wife( Number 1 )A full
sister( Number 1
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify
that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad,
is His Slave and Messenger.
If the deceased did not have any heirs except those mentioned in the
question, then the wife will get one-fourth of theinheritance due to
the lack of the children of thedeceased. In this regard, Allaah The
Exalted says)what means(: }And for the wives is one fourth ofwhat you
leave if you leave no child.{]Quran 4:12[
The full sister will get the half for Allaah The Almighty says )what
means(: }If a man dies, leaving no child but]only[ a sister, she will
have half of what he left.{]Quran 4:176[
The mother will get one-third for Allaah The Almighty says )what
means(: }But if he had nochildren and the parents]alone[ inherit from
him, then for his mother is one third.{]Quran 4:11[
Based on that, the estate should be divided into 13shares. Originally,
it is 12 shares but exceeded to 13 )because there is whatwe call in
Arabic 'Awl, which means that the shares of the inheritance)one fourth
3/12, one half6/12 and one third 4/12 =13/12( exceed the sum of the
total inheritance and by applying the laws of 'Awl the inheritance
will be divided into 13 shares)and not only 12 shares( 6shares for the
sister, 4 shares for the mother, and 3 shares for the wife.
Nothing will be given to the four paternal uncles because they inherit
onlyby Ta'seeb )i.e. by virtue of having a parental relation with the
deceased and they got what is left after the allotted shares have
beendistributed(. Here, the allotted shares have consumed the whole
estate and thus nothing remained for the paternal relatives. Also, the
two cousins will inherit nothing at all because, in principle, they
are prevented from the inheritance by the existence of the paternal
uncles.
Finally, we wish to notify the questioner that the issue of
inheritance is a very serious and dangerous matter. As such, it is not
sufficient torely solely on a Fatwa provided by a Mufti based on the
question heis asked. Rather, you must raise this issue in the Islamic
courts so that they might look into it and verify it. There mightbe an
heir unknown untilafter a proper investigation. Also, there could be
wills or debts or other obligations of which the heirs are unaware. It
is known that those rights precede the rights of heirs in the
inheritance, so it is not correct to divide the inheritance without
first consulting the Islamic courts, if they exist, in order to
confirm the rights of the living and the dead.
Allaah Knows best.

Weakness and ineffectiveness

A Muslim is commanded to pursue available means of attaining power and
to abandon weakness and ineffectiveness. The Prophetexplained that"a
strong believer is better and dearer to Allaah than a weak believer,
and there is good in each one. Cherish that which gives you benefit,
seek help from Allaah and do not lose heart."]Muslim[ Howis it that a
Muslim can become powerless or give up when he believesin the
existence of cause and effect, and in the balance that is set by
Allaah in the universe?
Physical or spiritual weakness is a negative trait that a Muslim
shouldavoid and get rid of. Allaah The Almighty instead urged His
slaves to actively pursue any course to achieve strength, for
instance, against the enemy, whenHe Said )what means(:}And prepare
against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by
which you may terrify the enemy of Allaah and yourenemy and others
besides them whom you do not know ]but[ whomAllaah knows. And whatever
you spend in the cause of Allaah will be fully repaid to you, and you
will not be wronged.{]Quran 8:60[
The Noble Quran denounces those who are content with subordination and
lead alife of weakness and impotence, though they retain the ability
to change their state. AllaahThe Almighty Says )what means(:}Indeed,
those whom the angels take ]indeath[ while wronging themselves - ]the
angels[ will say, "In what]condition[ were you?" They will say, "We
were oppressed in the land." The angels will say, "Was not the earth
of Allaah spacious ]enough[ for you to emigrate therein?" For those,
their refuge is Hell - and evil it is as a destination.{]Quran 4:97[
Surely, those who are satisfied with such an inferior existence,
exposethemselves to humiliation, disgrace andthe oppression of
tyrants,as Allaah The Almighty tells us about Pharaoh, Saying )what
means(:}So he bluffed his people, and they obeyed him. Indeed, they
were]themselves[ a people defiantly disobedient ]of Allaah[.{]Quran
43:54[
In fact, nations whose constituents become weak, will surely be
disgraced and defeated, because the central issue here is they have
already crushed themselves spiritually. However, if people exhibit a
high morale, it will be all the more difficult to triumph over or
humiliate them.
The history of our righteous predecessors shows how they succeeded in
conquering virtually the whole world, when they were strong and proud
of theirreligion, and when they actively pursued the means of power.
Nonetheless, when their successors gave in to vulnerability and
impotence, their situation reversed.
We can observe this in the tale that is told of theweak Muslim who
surrendered and stayed still under the orders of the Tatar soldier who
he knew was going to find arock to kill him and sure enough, he
fulfilled his threat. We also found people who would justifyenslaving
members of the Ummah to its enemies, by mentioning their dire
circumstances or some underlying benefit.
Causes of weakness and ineffectiveness
- Loss of determination and lack of purpose
- Love of life and an inclination towards it, and hatred of death
- Deviant educational curriculum and corruptedmass media
This is the most vital catalyst of weakness. Thus, we find the enemies
of Islam conspiring to corrupt the Ummah by interfering in its
scholastic matters and invading it with depravity. They aim to tear
Muslim societies intoshreds and drown them in the mire of immorality
and materialism. Thus, a person will have no time to listen to
guidance or revisit religion. The broad policies of the enemies are to
replace mosques with nightclubs;wives with prostitutes; belief with
freedom of thought, or more precisely, disbelief; and fighting power
with different forms of pleasure.
In truth, whatever humiliation comes upon man because of others and
affects him externally, is better and easier to cure than the
humiliation that springs from within himself. And that is better than
the weakness that bursts from his own heart, because that is, indeed,
asevere malady, resulting in a slow death.
Therefore, a Muslim must abandon weakness and pursue means of power,
seeking the Help of Allaah The Almighty, without ever losing heart.