Islamic Articles - Dought&clear, - * He was the cause of his grandfather losing his Social Security pension; is he liable for that?

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Ten or more years ago, my paternal grandfather was not working because he was old, and he was given a sum of money every year by Social Security. Then I registered a company in his name, and I registered employees too, then after that he lost the Social Security pension that he used to get every year, because of the company I registered in his name. Of course all the money earned by the company was for me, because I was a government employee and I was not allowed to open a company. Hence I had no choice but to use my grandfather's name, which I did with his consent. Please note that my grandfather did not understand anything because of his great age, as he had reached the age of nearly eighty years. Then he died (may Allah have mercy on him) approximately 5 years after the date of registering the company. After he died, I fired all the workers who had been under his sponsorship, and I shut down the company.
My question now is:
Am I liable for his pension during these five years that he used to get from Social Security, that was withheld from him by Social Security because of my registering a company in his name and changing his profession from pensioner to businessman?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
If your grandfather had given you permission to do that, and he was in his right mind and aware of the consequences that would result from his giving you permission, then you are not liable for what resulted from that of his being deprived of his pension.
Al-Kaasaani said: The one who is given permission is not liable for the consequences of an action for which he was given permission.
End quote from Badaa’i‘ as-Sanaa’i‘, 7/305
As-Subki said: Approval of a thing means approval of what results from it.
End quote fromal-Ishtibaah wa’n-Nazaa’ir, 1/152
Ibn al-Qayyim said: The one who is given permission to do an action is not liable for the consequences result from it.
End quote fromI‘laam al-Muwaqqi‘een, 2/33
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen said: A person is not liable for anything that may result from an action for which permission was given; if no permission was given, then he is liable.
End quote fromManzoomah fi Usool al-Fiqh, p. 15
Secondly:
If your grandfather was not aware of anything at the time when you registered the company in his name, then his consent is not valid, according to sharee‘ah.
As you were the cause of his losingof his Social Security pension, then you are liable for his pension for the five years during which he stopped receiving it. Liability usually occurs when damage is caused to something or its owner is caused to miss out on its benefits.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: Damage is of two types: damaging something that exists or causing the loss of benefits of something that did not come about when it should have been there.
End quote fromal-Fataawa al-Kubra, 5/406
The total sum of money should be distributed to his heirs in accordance with the shares dictated by sharee‘ah.
And Allah knows best.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Quraanic Exegesis, Dought&clear, - * Tafseer of the verse “So flee to Allaah. Verily, I (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) am a plain warner to you from Him” [al-Dhaariyaat 51:50]

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meaning of the first in which Allah says )interpretation of the meaning(: “So flee to Allaah. Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him” ]al-Dhaariyaat 51:50[? Why does the verse not start with the word Qul )“Say”( as many verses do?.
Praise be to Allaah.
Firstly:
This verse is one of the greatest verses in the Holy Qur’aan. It combines meanings of both fear and hope: fear of Allah and turning to Him, for there is no refuge from Him except in Him. The fact that no one offers refuge from Him except Him serves to tell His slaves that He is More Merciful than anyone else, and He wants to show mercy and forgive.
InMadaarij al-Saalikeen)1/469-481(, al-‘Allaamah ibn al-Qayyim spoke at length explaining that the level of “ fleeing to Allah” is one of the levels of those who are striving to reach Allah.
Allah says )interpretation of the meaning(:“So flee to Allaah. Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him” ]al-Dhaariyaat 51:50[.
Imam al-Tabari )may Allah have mercy on him( said:
Allah says: Flee, O people, from the punishment of Allah to His Mercy by believing in Him, following His commands and striving to obey Him.“Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him”means: I am a warner to you from Allah, sent to warn you of His punishment and make you fear the punishment that Allah sent against those nations He has told you about, and which He will cause them to taste in the Hereafter. The word “plain” )mubeen( means: to explain to you His warning. End quote.
Jaami‘ al-Bayaan, 22/440
Al-Qurtubi )may Allah have mercy on him( said:
Because of what is mentioned in the verses about how the nations disbelieved and rejected their Prophets and Allah brought about their destruction because of that, Allah says to His Prophet )blessings and peace of Allah be upon him(: Tell them, O Muhammad, i.e., tell your people:“Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him”i.e., flee from disobedience of Him to obedience to Him.
Ibn ‘Abbaas said: Flee to Allah by repenting from your sins. And it was narrated that he said: Flee from Him to Him, and strive to obey Him.
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan said: “Flee to Allah” means, Go to Makkah.
Al-Husayn ibn al-Fadl said: Flee from everything except Allah. The one who flees to anything else will not escape His punishment.
Abu Bakr al-Warraaq said: Flee from obeying the Shaytaan to obeying al-Rahmaan )the Most Merciful(.
Al-Junayd said: The Shaytaan calls to falsehood, so flee to Allah and He will protect you from him.
Dhu’l-Noon al-Masri said: Flee from ignorance to knowledge, and from disbelief )kufr( to gratitude )shukr(.
‘Amr ibn ‘Uthmaan said: Flee from yourself to your Lord.
He also said: Flee to )and be content with( that which Allah has already decreed for you, and do not rely on your own efforts.
Sahl ibn ‘Abd-Allah said: Flee from everything except Allah to Allah.
“Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him”means: I am warning you of His punishment for disbelief and sin. End quote.
Al-Jaami‘ li Ahkaam al-Qur’aan, 17/53-54
Al-‘Allaamah ‘Abd al-Rahmaan al-Sa‘di )may Allah have mercy on him( said:
When Allah called people to look at His signs which prompt one to fear Him and turn to Him, He enjoined that which is the aim behind that, which is to flee to Him, i.e., flee from that whichAllah hates, both visible and hidden, to that which He loves, both visible and hidden; flee from ignorance to knowledge, from kufr to faith, from disobedience to obedience, from heedlessness to remembrance )dhikr(of Allah. The one who achieves all of that has fulfilled all the commitments enjoined by Islam, and will no longer have any fears; he will have achieved his ultimate goal.
Allah called turning back to Him fleeing, because turning to anyone or anything other than Him involves a great deal of fear and negative consequences. In turning to Him there are all the things that one likes, security, happiness and victory. So the individual flees from His will and decree to His will and decree. Everyone you fear you can flee from, except Allah, may He be exalted; the more you fear Him, the more you flee to Him.“Verily, I )Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( am a plain warner to you from Him”means: a warner to you of the punishment of Allah with a clear message. End quote.
Tayseer al-Kareen al-Rahmaan, p. 811
Secondly:
With regard to the wordQul)“say”(, it appears in many verses of the Holy Qur’aan, in almost three hundred and ten verses, in various contexts and places, with a variety of meanings. But that does not mean that every command that Allah enjoins His Prophet )blessings and peace of Allah be upon him( to convey to the people must begin with the word “Qul”. The Qur’aan has a well-known style and the Arabic language encompasses many styles of eloquent expression, and this is part of the beauty and distinct quality of the language.
With regard to this word in particular, Dr. Fadl Hasan ‘Abbaas says:
With regard to the word “Qul”, the one who ponders the verses of the Qur’aan and its style will find that this word appears whenever there is a need for it, which is when the style is one of prompting, whether the prompting is to teach or to refute specious arguments. That may be seen in the last three soorahs, and also in the following verses )interpretation of the meaning(:
“Say )O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم(: ‘Shall I take as a Wali )Helper, Protector, Lord or God( any other than Allaah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth? And it is He Who feeds but is not fed.’ Say: ‘Verily, I am commanded to be the first of those who submit themselves to Allaah )as Muslims(.’ And be not you )O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم( of the Mushrikoon )polytheists, pagans, idolaters and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allaah(.
15. Say: ‘I fear, if I disobey my Lord, the torment of a Mighty Day.’
16. Who is averted from )such a torment( on that Day, )Allaah( has surely, been Merciful to him. And that would be the obvious success”
]al-An‘aam 6:14-16[
“Say )to the disbelievers(: ‘Tell me, if Allaah took away your hearing and your sight, and sealed up your hearts, who is there — an Ilaah )a god( other than Allaah who could restore them to you?” See how variously We explain the Ayaat )proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.(, yet they turn aside’”
]al-An‘aam 6:46[
“Say )O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم(: ‘Truly, my Lord has guided me to a Straight Path, a right religion, the religion of Ibraaheem )Abraham(, Haneefa ]i.e. the true Islamic Monotheism — to believe in One God )Allaah, i.e. to worship none but Allaah, Alone([ and he was not of Al-Mushrikoon.’
162. Say )O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم(: ‘Verily, my Salaah )prayer(, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allaah, the Lord of the ‘Aalameen )mankind, jinn and all that exists(’”
]al-An‘aam 6:161-162[
The one who ponders these verses will have no doubt that their context is one of prompting and teaching. End quote.
Qadaaya Qur’aaniyyah fi’l-Mawsoo‘ah al-Breetaaniyyah )p. 57(
It is important for us to know that reaching these eloquent meanings from these verses is a matter of personal understanding; another researcher may come with a different eloquent meaning alongside the first one, or one that is more likely to be correct. With regard to such matters we should study the style of the Qur’aan in expression and see the different contexts in which a particular word was mentioned, in order to understand the role it is playing in expressing the eloquent meaning and see the reason why it was mentioned.
And Allah

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M

Quraanic Exegesis, Dought&clear, - * What are lamam (“small faults”)? And what is the ruling on a disobedient Muslim who repeatedly commits them?

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Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Those who avoid great sins and Al‑Fawaahish (illegal sexual intercourse) except the small faults (lamam)…”
[al-Najm 53:32]
I know that lamam (translated here as “small faults”) means minor sins, such as looking, kissing and touching, and these sins will be forgiven by Allaah so long as major sins are avoided.
My question is: does this mean that a person will not be punished for these sins even in this world, if he repents from them then does them again, and repents again and goes back to them again? Will he not be punished by Allaah for committing these sins?.
Praise be to Allaah.
In the answer to the question no. 22422, The meaning of small faults’” we have discussed the different scholarly opinions on the meaning of the wordlamamin the verse (interpretation of the meaning):
“Those who avoid great sins and Al‑Fawaahish (illegal sexual intercourse) except the small faults (lamam)…”
[al-Najm 53:32]
The majority of scholars are of the view thatlamamrefers to minor sins.
This does not mean that a person may be negligent with regard to the matter of committing minor sins, rather persisting in minor sins makes them major sins, which means that they are no longer minor faults.
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said inSharh Muslim:
The scholars (may Allaah have mercy on them) said that persisting in a minor sin makes it a major sin. It was narrated from ‘Umar, Ibn ‘Abbaas and others (may Allaah be pleased with them) that there is no major sin with prayers for forgiveness and no minor sin if one persists in it.
What this means is that a major sin may be erased by praying for forgiveness, but a minor sin may become a major sin if one persists in it. End quote.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said inMajmoo’ al-Fataawa(15/293):
Adultery is a major sin, but looking and touching arelamam(minor sins) which may be forgiven if one avoids major sin. But if a person persists in looking or touching, that becomes a major sin, and persisting in that may be worse than a small amount of major sin, for persisting in looking with desire, along with the connected feelings of mixing and touching, may be much worse than the evil of an isolated act of zina. Hence the fuqaha’ said concerning the witness of good character: he does not commit a major sin or persist in a minor sin… Indeed, looking and touching may lead a man toshirkas Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And of mankind are some who take (for worship) others besides Allaah as rivals (to Allaah). They love them as they love Allaah”
[al-Baqarah 2:165]
The one who is in love becomes a slave to the one he loves. end quote.
The Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) warned us against being negligent with regard to minor sins, and said:
“Beware of minor sins, like a people who camped in the bottom of a valley, and one man brought a stick, another man brought a stick, and so on, until they managed to bake their bread. There are some insignificant sins which, once (they accumulate) and a person is questioned about them, they lead to his doom.”
Narrated by Ahmad, 2/223, from the hadeeth of Sahl ibn Sa’d (may Allaah have mercy on him). Al-Haafiz said: Its isnaad is hasan.
Ahmad (3803) narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Mas’ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Beware of minor sins, for they accumulate until they doom a man,” and the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) gave a likeness of that: “Like people who camped in the wilderness, and one man brought a stick, another man brought a stick, and so on, until they accumulated a lot, then they lit a fire and cooked their food.” Classed as hasan by al-Albaani inSaheeh al-Jaami’, 2687.
Ibn Maajah (4243) narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me: “O ‘Aa’ishah, beware of deeds that are regarded as insignificant, for they have a pursuer from Allaah.” Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani inSaheeh Ibn Maajah.
Al-Ghazaali said:
Repeatedly committing small sins has a great effect of blackening the heart. It is like the effect of water dripping onto rock, which will inevitably erode it, even though water is liquid and rock is solid. End quote.
The poet spoke well when he said:
Do not think of minor sins as insignificant, for mountains are made out of pebbles.
Secondly:
If a person repents from his sin, then it is forgiven and he will not be punished for it, either in this world or in the Hereafter. Hence the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin at all.” Narrated by Ibn Maajah, 4250. al-Haafiz said: Its isnaad is hasan; it was also classed as hasan by al-Albaani inSaheeh Ibn Maajah.
Al-Nawawi said:
The scholars (may Allaah be pleased with them) are agreed that repentance is accepted so long as the death rattle has not reached the throat, as it says in the hadeeth. There are three pillars or essential parts of repentance: the person must give up the sin, regret doing it, and resolve not to go back to it.
If a person repents from sin then goes back to it, that does not invalidate his repentance, and if he repents from one sin then commits another, his repentance is still valid. This is the correct view. End quote.
He also said:
If a person repeats the sin a hundred times or a thousand times or more, and repents each time, his repentance is accepted and his sin is erased. Even if he were to repent once after all these sins, his repentance would be valid. End quote.
Inal-Saheehaynit is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said in a hadeeth qudsi: “A person committed a sin and said, ‘O Allaah, forgive me my sin.’ Allaah said: ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knew that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sin.’ Then he committed the sin again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ Allaah said: ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knew that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sin.’ Then he committed the sin again and said: ‘O Lord, forgive me my sin.’ Allaah said: ‘My slave has committed a sin, but he knew that he has a Lord Who forgives sins and punishes for sin. Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you.’” According to another report: “I have forgiven My slave, so let him do what he wishes.”
Al-Nawawi (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
The words “Do what you wish, for I have forgiven you” mean: so long as you sin then repent, I will forgive you.
Whatever the case, the mercy of Allaah is vast and His bounty is immense. Whoever repents, Allaah will accept his repentance. But the Muslim should not take the risk of committing sins because he may not be able to repent. What is mentioned in the hadeeth is for the purpose of explaining how great the mercy of Allaah is and how immense His bounty, not to encourage people to commit sin.
And Allaah knows best.

- PUBLISHERNajimudeeN M