Missed Prayers, Euthanasia, Bank Interest for Charity

Q 1. If I miss a prayer (Salat) and the time of another prayer comes, should I first pray the missed prayer and then the current prayer or should I pray the current prayer first and then pray the missed prayer?

A 1. Salat is one of the most important obligations of Islam. It is one of the five basic principles of Islam. A Muslim should not miss any prayer; and all prayers should be performed on their appointed times. Allah says in the

Qur’an: “Indeed the prayers are enjoined on Believers at stated times.” (al-Nisa’ 4:103) In a Hadith the Prophet -peace be upon him- said, “Allah has made five prayers obligatory upon His servants. So whosoever will perform them and will not miss any of them out of negligence, he has the pledge of Allah that He will enter him in paradise. And whosoever will not perform them, Allah has no pledge with him. If He wills He may punish him, and if He wills He may forgive him.” (Al-Nasa’i, Hadith 457; Abu Da’ud, Hadith 1210; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 21635).

Some jurists (such as Imam Abu Hanifah) consider it mandatory (wajib) to follow the sequence in prayers. First one should pray the missed prayer (al-fa’itah) and then pray the current prayer (al-waqtiyah). However, if the time of the current prayer is running out and one fears that one may lose even the current prayer, then one should pray the current prayer and afterward pray the missed prayers. Also if one comes to the Masjid and sees the congregational prayer has started, then one should join the congregation of the current prayer and should pray the missed prayer after it.

According to Imam Abu Hanifah -may Allah be pleased with him- it is mandatory to follow the sequence, if the missed prayers are less than six. For more than six missed prayer the sequence is good, but nor required. They should be performed in whatever order, but as soon as possible. (Radd al-Muhtar)

Q 2. At work when the time of prayer comes, I pray in my office. I have a Muslim secretary and she wishes to join me in prayer. I have been telling her to pray by herself and that we cannot pray in Jama’ah. Am I correct?

A 2. You are correct. It is permissible for the husband and wife or a man and his Mahram female relative (Such as a father and his daughter or a son and his mother or a brother and his sister etc.) to pray together. It is not permissible for a non-Mahram man and a woman to pray in Jama’ah. If there are more than one people -men or women- then you can have a Jama’ah prayer, but leading a single non-Mahram woman in prayer is not permissible.

Q 3. I was just wondering (I’m not a doctor or anything) if euthanasia (mercy killing) is allowed in Islam. I think that if someone is enduring blinding pain and doesn’t really have much time to live (2 or 3 months), the doctor should kill that person and end his/her misery. What do you think? Is Euthanasia allowed in Islam?

A 3. Euthanasia is not allowed in Islam. Islam considers human life sacred. Life is to be protected and promoted as much as possible. It is neither permissible in Islam to kill another human being, nor even to kill one’s own self (suicide). Killing is allowed only in a declared just war situation when the enemy comes to attack, then killing of the enemy is allowed for self-defense. The court of law may pass a death sentence against a person as a punishment for some crimes such as premeditated murder or other serious crimes. However, there is no provision in Islam for killing a person to reduce his pain or suffering from sickness. It is the duty of the doctors, patient’s relatives and the state to take care of the sick and to do their best to reduce the pain and suffering of the sick, but they are not allowed under any circumstances to kill the sick person. The sick person also should patiently endure the pain and should pray to Allah. If he/she is patient, there will be a great reward and blessing for him/her in the eternal life.If, however, a number of medical experts determine that a patient is in a terminal condition and there is no hope for his/her recovery, then it could be permissible for them to stop the medication. If the patient is on life support, it may be permissible, with due consultation and care, to decide to switch off the life support machine and let the nature take its own time. Under no condition it is permissible to induce death to a patient.

Q 4. I am living in United State and I have a Bank Account. I don’t take interest but just I am thinking why should I leave that interest money with bank, why not I use it to give Sadqa & Khairat to poor people. Is it permissible to use bank interest in Sadqa, Khairat?

A 4. The general rule in Islam is that Haram money should not be used for charity. Allah says in the Qur’an, “O you who believe! Give of the good things which you have (honorably) earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it you may give away something” (al-Baqarah 2:267) The Prophet -peace be upon him- also said, “Allah is good and accepts nothing but good…” (Muslim, Hadith 1686)

However, since Islamic banks are not available in this country and some banks give interest even on checking accounts, one should take this money and give it in charity without counting it as Zakat. A number of Muslim jurists (from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India and Pakistan etc) have given this Fatwa. Shaikh Jadul Haq the former Shaikh of Al-Azhar (died in 1998) mentioned that Muslim jurists in the past also used to allow giving in charity the money whose owner was not known. As an analogy they mentioned that someone brought the meat of a goat to the Prophet -peace be upon him. The Prophet -peace be upon him- took a bite then he set it aside and said, “I fee that this goat was taken from its owner without permission.” The Prophet then told them to distribute the meat among the prisoners of war. (see Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 21471) Imam al-Ghazali argued against those who said that it was not right to use Haram money in charity. He said, “We are not giving it in charity to seek reward for ourselves, but we are giving it to get rid of it. We had a choice either to destroy this money or to use it to help someone. So we preferred helping someone instead of destroying it. If someone says that how can we give to others what we do not like to take ourselves. We say to them that we do not take it because we do not need it, but it is permissible for the poor to take it because they are in need.” (see al-Buhuth wa al-Fatawa, 1992, p. 284)