The company gave him some money to buy a computer to develop his skills at work; is it permissible for him to sell it and make use of the money?.,Dought clear -

I am an engineer working for a company. One of the perks that I get in
return for my work is a sum of money to compensate me for what I have
spent on updating my engineering skills, such as conferences and
books. If I do not use themoney during one year, the company keeps the
money. The company also allows me, as a one-off, to buy a computer
without stipulating any maximum limit on the price of this computer.
Some of my colleagues who have the same perks bought a computer and
gave the invoice to the company to show that they bought this
computer, then they returned the computer to the store and took the
money andkept it. Is it permissible for me to do the same thing?.
Praise be to Allah.
It is not permissible for you to make use of this money except in
accordance with the conditions stipulated by those who are in charge
of your work, which is buying a computer and using it as they have
stipulated to update your engineering skills and so on. It is not
permissible for you to buy the computer and give the invoice to the
company, then return the computer to the store and take its price, as
your colleagues have done. That is for the following reasons:
1.
This is contrary to the conditions on the basis of which you took this
money, and it is not permissible, because anycondition that does not
permit something prohibited or prohibit something permissible must be
fulfilled, because the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: "The Muslims are bound by their conditions." Narrated by
Abu Dawod, 3594; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
2.
This is regarded as deceit, lying and using tricks to consume people's
wealth unlawfully, because you are making them think that you have
bought the computer when in fact you have returned itand taken its
price. Deceit and lying are both haraam according to the laws of
Allah, may He be glorified.
3.
It is proven that the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) said: "It is not permissible (to take) the wealth of a
man unless he gives it willingly."
Narrated by Ahmad, 20172); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh
al-Jaami', 7662.
It is certain that if those who are in charge of thecompany knew that
you had taken this money and not bought a computer with it, they would
not approve of that.
4.
In most cases the company only stipulates that their employees should
buy these computers for the benefit of the company, by raising the
standards of the employees, updating the computers that they use, and
other things that will benefit the company and its productivity and
efficiency. This is like what is called in sharee'ah a gift given with
the expectation of some return, which is when one person gives agift
to another in the hope that he will compensate him for it, which is a
kind of gift with conditions or a gift that brings a reward. In the
case of this kind of gift, if the giver does notget what he intended
of returns or the recipient does not adhere to the conditions
stipulated by the giver, the giver has the right to take back hisgift.
Ibn 'Aabideen (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his Haashiyah
(5/710): A woman gave up her mahr to her husband on condition that he
take her for Hajj, but he did not take her for Hajj. Muhammad ibn
Muqaatilsaid: She may take back her mahr, because consent to give the
gift was on condition that there be some compensation; if there isno
compensation there is no consent, and the gift is not valid if there
isno consent. /

Based on that, it is not permissible to make use of this money except
in the manner stipulated by the company.
And Allah knows best.

Does being in debt mean that zakaah is no longer due? Can he delayzakaah because he has no cash available?.,Dought clear -

In our country we have been affected by war and we were expelled from
our land 23 years ago. Praise be to Allah, my father and I are settled
now and we have a business. We borrowed money in order to settle and
start a business, the value of which was 1 million. When we worked out
the value of zakaah that we owe on the property and trade goods that
wehave in our possession, it was estimated to be 7 million, and the
trade goods on which zakaah is due are worth 5 or 6 million.
My questions are:
1. Are we required to pay zakaah, as we have not paid it all these
yearsbecause we were not able to pay off the debt of 1 million? Was it
correct for us not to pay zakaah?
2. We do not have any cash now, if we are required to pay zakaah. We
helped a brother of ours to pay off a debt heowed, so that he could
pay off the borrowed amount without paying the interest that had been
agreed upon. Is it possible for us to waive this debt and thus pay off
the zakaah that we owe?
3. We own some property in the country where the war was, that we took
possession of after the war ended, andwe are planning to sell this
property in order to pay off debts and so thatwe can buy a house in
the place where we live now. Is this property subject to zakaah?.
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
Zakaah is due on trade goods according to the correct scholarly
opinion. Whatever has been prepared for trade is subject to zakaah if
it reaches the nisaab or minimum threshold and one hijri year has
passedsince the capital was acquired.
Secondly:
According to the correct scholarly view, debt does not mean that
zakaah is waived. If a person owns the minimum threshold and one hijri
year has passed, he must pay his zakaah, even if he owes a debt that
brings his wealth lower than the minimum threshold. But if he pays off
his debts before the new zakaah year begins, and his wealth falls
below the minimum threshold, then he does not have topay anything.
See the answer to question no. 109896
Thirdly:
Based on the above, you have to pay zakaah for the years during which
you did not pay zakaah when it was due from you. The fact that you did
not know that debt does not waive the obligation of zakaah does not
cancel out the obligation that was due from the wealth, even if it
does mean that the burden of sin for not paying zakaah on time
iswaived.
Fourthly:
If a person lends money to someone, he does nothave the right to let
him off and count it as part of his zakaah. This is the view of the
majority of scholars. So you do not have the right to count what you
lent to this person as being part of your zakaah. But if you gave him
the zakaah of your wealth, and he returned it to you in order to pay
off his debt or part of it, there is no blame on you for that.
See the answer to question no. 13901 . Based on that, it is not
permissible for you to count what you lent to this man as part of your
zakaah.
Fifthly:
If zakaah is due from a person and he does not have any cash with
which to pay the zakaah,then he has the choice: either he can sell
some of the wealth on which zakaah is due and pay the zakaah; or he
can give some of the trade goods that he has that are equal in value
to the zakaah he owes, if thosegoods are things that will be of
benefit to the poor, such as food, clothing and so on; or this zakaah
may remain something that he owes until he acquires cash with which to
pay zakaah, if selling something on which zakaah is due will affect
him adversely. See the answer to question no. 177963
Sixthly:
With regard to the property in the land where war occurred, if you
could not dispose of it or reach it because of the war, no zakaah is
due on it for the past period, because it comesunder the ruling on
property that was usurped and could not be disposed of. But as you
have been able to obtain it and dispose of it, then to be on the safe
side you should pay zakaah of one year on it for what has passed, even
if it was many years. See the answer to question no. 129657
All of this applies if this wealth was things on which zakaah is due
in the first place, such as cash, gold, silver and thelike. As for
property suchas agricultural land and real estate, there is no zakaah
on that at all; rather zakaah is due on the crops and returns. During
wartime, there were no crops or returns.
And Allah knows best.

How a Person Could Change!

The following story was narrated to us by brother Mahmud from Preston,
England. Once, he along with a group ofMuslims were visiting a city
for inviting others toAllah. They happened to pass by a group of
youths who were Muslims by birth but became gang members. The brothers
didn't give those gang members thenegative attitude that others give
while passing by them. Rather, they went and hand-shook with them out
of brotherhood. With love and affection, the brothers invited the
youths to come to the Masjid. Not being familiar with such kindness,
the gang members were surprisedand decided to come to the Masjid for
once. These youths were so much away from Islam that they were smoking
in the Masjid and doing a lot of other disrespectful acts. However,
brother Mahmud and others were discussing with them about the
Greatness of Allah with patience and endurance.A time came when the
brothers had to return to their homes and before leaving they advised
the gang members to turn towards Allah.
After several years, brother Mahmud was attending a large gathering of
Muslims when suddenly someonecalled him from the back. There were few
people dressed in sunnah standing behind him. They asked brother
Mahmud if he recognizesthem. They told him, �We are those gang members
whom you visited few years back. We decided to go out and learn more
about Islam and eventually changed our lives.�
Dear readers, we should never underestimate certain people because of
the way they are as every individual has the capacity to become a
friend of Allah. It is only Allah who guides; we can only try with
kindness to reach out to their hearts.

Imam Bukhari cured from blindness

Imam Bukhari, who was one of the greatest compilers of ahadith, became
blind at a youngage. He had recourse to many famous and skilleddoctors
of his time but their treatments made no difference. His mother was a
pious worshipper and a righteous woman. She cried out for help in the
court of Allah the Almighty, for her child and begged for the
restoration of his eyesight. At last, "the river of mercy flowed over
her," and Almighty Allah accepted her invocation. One night, she
visited Ibrahim alayhis-salam in a dreamand was told, "Allah has
restored the sight of your son because of your intense and beautiful
invocations." In the morning, as Imam Bukhari got up from his bed,
glimmers of light reached out into his eyes. That is, his eyesightwas
fully restored.
Source: From the biography of Imam Bukhari (ra) located in the
beginning of Sahih Al Bukhari 9 Volume English Translation. Additional
details were provided by Shaykh al-Hadith Allama Ghulam Rasul Sa`idi.
Make use of salah and dua to solve any problem that even the best
experts of this world cannot solve. Unfortunately, the Muslims are
turning away from these deeds today when they need them the most. We
pray for Allah to give us the true understading of Islam.