His Eminence, Grand Ayatollah al-Hakeem, receives the Swedish Ambassador to the OIC and Calls the International Community to Block the Sources of Terrorism and Extremism

His Eminence, Grand Ayatollah al-Hakeem, receives the Swedish Ambassador to the OIC and Calls the International Community to Block the Sources of Terrorism and Extremism
2019/04/27

His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Mohammed Saeed al-Hakeem received Mr. Joachim Bergstrom, the Swedish Ambassador to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on 27 April 2019.

During the meeting, His Eminence called the international community towards a serious attempt to blocking the sources of terrorism and extremism, in all its types and manners, and to eliminate this cancerous illness from its roots, and not to ignore it. It has created much misery and tragedy in different societies and is spreading its culture, as well as distorting the true image of Islam, which the Holy Quran and the Holy Infallibles (peace be upon them) deliver.

His Eminence indicated the importance of the international community giving due regard to noble ethical traits, which will lead to participating in forming good societies and families.

His Eminence also mentioned the role of Marji'iyya, which requires of its followers to follow the laws of the land, to be truthful, responsible, sincere and to abstain from creating hardships. The Marji'iyya emphasizes the peaceful coexistence and respect for others, whatever ethnicity or creed they may have.

Mr. Bergstrom thanked His Eminence, appreciated his warm welcome. He also expressed his appreciation of the role of Marji'iyya in bringing about peace and easing religious tension in the region.

Day Questions

I work for a retail company in the West, and they pay my wages directly into my bank account. This money has never been withdrawn by me and has sat in my account since it was transferred. I do transfer a part of it into another savings account through the internet every month. After a year of transferring, but never withdrawing and holding the money physically, will this money be subject to Khums, and is Hajj obligatory on me if there is enough in the savings account to cover Hajj costs?

If you work in a state establishment and your salary is transferred directly to a state-owned bank, then the laws of khums and Hajj do not apply on the salary. They both apply on amounts that you withdraw from the bank. Both conditions must be present (working for the state and the bank being owned by the state) in order for this ruling to apply. If one of the two conditions are not fulfilled, like if you work for a private establishment or the amount is transferred to a private bank, or both of them are not present, the regular laws of Khums and Hajj apply. That is, if the amount adds up to what is sufficient to cover the cost of Hajj, it becomes obligatory. Likewise, Khums has to be paid from the unused portion of it at the end of the Khums year.

Is it permissible for a wife to sing in a wedding ceremony in front of many people, men and women, without her husband’s permission?

This is not permissible even if the husband allows it, since it is impermissible to do so in the presence of men. If the audience comprises of only women, then it is permissible for woman to sing during wedding ceremonies, without music.

Are the wives of the Prophet included in Ahlulbayt (peace be upon them) according to the 33rd verse of Surah al-Ahzab?

The verse does not include the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) since the wife – based on Arabic custom – is not included in the term “household” usually. This term refers to the genealogy of the man and his relatives by blood. It was narrated in the book “Lisan ul-Arab” that Ibn Sayyidah – an expert in Arabic linguistics – stated that the term “ahl” refers to the tribe of the man and his blood relatives. Apparently, this meaning was clear during the first era of Islam, since history did not mention that the aforementioned term is given to the wives by the companions of the Prophet. It was not used by the wives of the Prophet themselves. Aisha – for example – led an army to fight Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and her supporters were trying to gain the support of Muslims by any possible mean. Yet they did not mention that she is a member of the Ahlulbait. It appears from numerous traditions narrated by Muslims in general that the Messenger of Allah used this phrase to refer to Ali, Hasan, Husain and Fatima (peace be upon them). Ahmed bin Hanbal narrated in his book (Al-Musnad) from Umm Salama that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his progeny) told Fatima (peace be upon her), “Call for me your husband and your two sons”. She did so, and he then placed a blanket over them and then he placed his hand over them and said: ”O Lord, these are the Aal of Mohammad, so place your blessings on Mohammad and the Aal of Mohammad. All praise and glory belong to you.” Umm Salama raised the blanket to join with them. The Messenger of Allah prevented her and said: “Your future is good”. Many other traditions narrated by Sunni scholars mentioned clearly that the noble verse (33:33) was revealed while they were under the blanket. In addition to that, what some of the wives of the Prophet (peace be upon him) did clearly indicates that they were not purified from committing sins; some verses of chapter 66 (al-Tahreem) were revealed condemning Aisha and Hafsa since they aided one another against the Messenger of Allah. It was also narrated that one of the Prophet’s wife, Qutaila bint Qais left the religion of Islam after the death of the Prophet and got married to Ikrama bin Abi Jahl.