Q:

1. How many saffs (rows) can we cross while in the state of namaaz in order to fill the front saffs (rows)?

2. How much can we move horizontally in the same saff (row) in order to fill the gap?

Q: A person has a personal house that he wishes to gift to his three daughters. How should he complete the hibah (gifting) process, considering that the title deeds are in his name? If he does not transfer the house onto their name but merely gifts it to them in the presence of witnesses and has it duly signed as well, will this be sufficient? I was informed that the gifting will only take place if the house is divided and each daughter is given a separate portion of the house. Is this necessary or can I just gift the entire house to the three of them?

Q: I am a doctor with a private practice. Many patients come to me who are genuinely ill. According to my experience, such patients will generally require three or four days of sick leave. Sometimes, the patients ask me to extend the sick leave by an additional one or two days. Bearing in mind that they will be paid by their employers for these days in which they had sick leave, is it permissible for me to give them one or two days extra?

Q: I was a Hindu and have two daughters. After the death of my husband, I married a Muslim man. My younger daughter and I accepted Islam. My elder daughter is now eighteen years old and has not accepted Islam. My husband and elder daughter do not have a healthy relationship as a father and daughter. She never wants to talk about changing religion. She wears T-shirts and jeans outside the home and tops and pyjamas at home which my husband doesn't like. I feel helpless in all this and get too stressed.

1. I want to know if she doesn't accept Islam, will me and my husband be sinful?

2. Will we be sinful if she wears such clothes although she never wears sleeveless or other vulgar dresses?

Q: I have selected a name for my daughter, "Mirha" (مرہا). Can you please explain the meaning of it with some reference?

Q: I work for a wholesaler and my daily tasks are many. I open the store and then I do daily counts of airtime. I am the cashier, take phone calls, take phone orders, respond to WhatsApp messages and orders. I also pay suppliers and buy stock when needed. I have to cash up customers and give them airtime and cigarettes.

I have to phone the boss while there are queues of people to get special pricing for each item for all the big customers. When I make a payout for either a payment to a supplier or buying items, I have to make a note in a book. I must also make a note in a seperate book for COD customers. While doing all this, sometimes the boss will ask for money. Since he wants the money immediately and I am very busy, I don’t always get a chance to make a note of the money he takes.

When cash up is done, there are some occasions where there are shortages, etc. Most of the time, it is found that something wasn’t noted down in the rush. There are cameras overhead which see that I don’t steal anything, and because of the rushed pace of everything, it’s not due to negligence on my part.

According to Shari’ah, is it permissible for my boss to ask me to pay for the shortages that can’t be traced and hold me responsible for it?

Q: I own a jewellery store. We offer our customers a 'trade-in' service where they bring their old jewellery to us, we evaluate it and determine its worth, and then the customer takes jewellery of their choice to the value of the jewellery that was traded-in.

Is it correct to deal in this manner? If not, how should we conduct the deal?

Q: I am an oncologist (cancer specialist). I often have a situation where a patient comes to me in the advanced stages of cancer. According to my experience and knowledge, such a patient may have the life expectancy of only three months (for example).

Ethically, I am bound to inform the patient or their family of the situation. If I do not do so, I can be held liable for not informing them of the seriousness of the situation. However, I understand that this is against the Islamic teaching of giving hope to the patient and not causing them distress and anxiety. Furthermore, there have been certain cases, against the norm, where patients have ‘pulled through’ and surpassed the life expectancy period.

Nevertheless, I sometimes feel that it may be beneficial to indirectly indicate to the patient that their end may be near, as it will prompt them to set their affairs in order before passing away.

What is the correct understanding in this regard?

Q:

1. Is the earning from takaaful insurance clearly stated as haraam?

2. If such a person invites a friend for a dinner party at his home, will it be halaal for him to consume such type of food?

Q: I am a doctor and my patients, by and large, are contracted to medical aid. I encounter the following issues with my patients:

1. A patient is not sick and does not require any treatment. They ask me to give them cash (e.g. R500) and bill their medical aid for R500 by making out a fake visit with consultation and medication to the value of R500. The patients insist that since they are paying the medical aid on a monthly basis, and they are not claiming for treatment every month, they are entitled to do this to recover their money.

2. A patient brings a friend or relative to me. The patient has medical aid, but the person that they brought is not contracted to any medical aid. The patient asks me to treat this person, but bill their medical aid by filling in their details instead of the actual patient's details.

In the above two cases, is it permissible for me to do as the patient asks?