Q: Zaid and Amar had a very good relationship. During this time Zaid had given some gifts of cash and also some items to Amar. At the time the gifts were received and accepted and also used. Recently some issues arose due to which the relationship is very strained and Amar is very upset with Zaid. Amar has now sent back an amount of cash equivalent to the hadya that was given to him. He has also sent the gifted item back which had been previously accepted and used as well. The questions are:

1. Will the cash sent by Amar be deemed to be a return of the actual gift that was given to him, and will Zaid be obliged to take it back?

2. Will the item returned, which was accepted and used, be deemed as a return of the actual gift?

Q: My question is in regards to my obligations to my parents. I am 26 years old and I have always respected my parents, loved them and still do. I am ready for marriage but my mother keeps putting obstacles on my way and she doesn’t want me to get married. She already said yes to a proposal with lots of hardships. She always says you’re going to have bad luck, you’re going to cry once you get married, you need to take care of your parents (although I have other sisters and brothers). She also doesn’t understand that one day her daughter will get married or at least she will have the right to get married but she always refuses and says everyone has taken care of their parents instead of marriage, why can’t you, please guide me what to do?

Q: I work in food transport and very often I transport non-halaal meat. I wanted to know if my work is halaal or haraam.

Q: What advice can you give to me being a person seeking a spouse the halaal way. A lot of pressure is put on me especially because I am currently 27 years old.

Q: There are too many applications on the internet which ask us to invest in their business like they ask us to purchase their devices and they say they will launch these machines at different places and people will use them and we will share the profit with you. I invested 2000 and they give me daily earning of 200. Is it halaal?

Q: In our time, there are wealthy Muslims to take out loans from the bank for tens of millions of rands for the purpose of business, e.g. constructing an apartment block. Or taking out a mortgage for buying a home. Please advise:

(1) If the amount loaned exceeds their Zakaat asset value, does that mean these Muslims do not have to pay Zakaat, and that they are also eligible to receive Zakaat?

(2) Likewise, is it better for them to use money to pay off debts or Nafl Sadaqah/Lillah projects?

Q: We know that praying 8 rakaah in tahajud is sunnah but there is no limit on the number of rakaah.

My question is should we pray these 8 rakaah in pairs of 2 or 4 and if we want to pray in pairs of 4 for example 4+4 is 8 so should we recite another surah after fatiha in the third and fourth rakkah because we know that reciting a surah after fatiha in the third and fourth rakaah is wajib in sunnah e muakadah and ghair e muakadah.

Q: I work for a religious organization Alhamdulillah they do very good work ماشاء الله

1. My original hours of work were 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. However to also avail myself for certain over and above takazas and mashwarah outside of my working times (failure to attend these outside of working time gatherings or takazas result in getting reprimanded).

Is this permissible in the shariah?

2) After 6 months I was asked to work one weekend a month (Saturday and Sunday) with no additional pay for the two days.

Is this permissible in the shariah?

3. After another 8 months they called me into a meeting in which to take responsibility in another department which the person who was hired specifically for that purpose declined due to the nature of that work. I agreed to do so on certain conditions which were supposed to be met at the end of July. However at the end of July those conditions were not met and they said I should start in that position immediately as there was no one else to fulfill it and if I refuse then my original post would become refunded and they would have to cut down on staff.

The new position involves me relocating and changing my whole schedule to accommodate this new position. It involves longer hours and an additional weekend (now two weekends in the month).

Is it permissible in shariah for them to coerce me into this position and extract extra hours and weekends from me without discussing renumeration etc.?

Also, due to the criterion not being met at the end of July I'm forced to fulfill this position from 4 different locations and as I explained to them that this will be difficult they expect me still without discussing the renumeratiin and other logistics and how me accountable for any defaults. Is the above permissible in the shariah?

In addition to working for this organization you are not allowed to be actively involved in any other business or sundry activities in your own personal time. Is this permissible in the shariah?

Q: I am in the construction industry working in a private consulting firm where we work with the public sector (government). In some projects, hard cash has to be paid to a government official for certain processes to be done quicker then the normal waiting time. For example if the process of getting a document approved is 6 weeks, payment can be made to the individual to get it approved within a week such that the deadline can be met for the client (government). Does this count as bribery? If yes, what can be done to avoid such if your boss requires it to be done?

Q: Please can you kindly advise on the following from a Hanafi point of view:

1. Reading Sabina Taraweeh in the Kingdom. Is it permissible to do so?

2. Are we allowed to read Witr in Jamaat in the Kingdom as their method is different?