Could you please explain the prophecy which speaks of the advent of the Mehdi and when will that take place? What are the signs associated with his arrival?
The Prophet, peace be upon him, alerted us to a number of future events, such as the warning against the Dajjal, or the Impostor, and the Second Coming of the Prophet Jesus Christ. One of these future events is the advent of the Mehdi, whom we know from his title to be rightly guided. He appears before the Second Coming of Jesus and when Jesus comes, he hands over the leadership of the believers to him. He is an ordinary human being to whom God grants guidance. Hence his title.
When exactly are these events to take place is something God has chosen not to reveal to us. Had He told us that they will happen on such and such a date, we are likely to slacken in our efforts to serve God’s cause.
If the date is far away, we may think that our efforts are unlikely to succeed, and we should only wait for the Mehdi, or Jesus Christ’s Second Coming. If the date is soon, we will say it is better to wait so that our efforts are put on the right track and are not wasted. We would forget that when the Mehdi comes, he will need people to support him, and these can only be the people that are already engaged in serving God’s cause. Therefore, we must always do our best in furthering God’s cause, without looking to the future events the Prophet, peace be upon him, has mentioned.
If these occur in our lifetime and we are on the side of the God and His messenger, we will be sure to help in bringing about the triumph of God’s message. If we die before they take place, we would have done our duty and will be sure to earn our reward from God.
Article by Adil Salahi, Arab News
The Qur’an outlines an elaborate system for the division of inheritance. The details, which are included in three verses in the fourth Surah entitled ‘An-Nisa,’ or ‘Women,’ make it clear how the property of a deceased person should be divided between his or her heirs. The division varies according to the number and the degree of kinship of a person’s heirs. The shares detailed in the Qur’an, cannot be exceeded or altered in any way. It is not open to any person to disinherit any of his or her heirs, for any reason. God has apportioned these shares and they must be carried out.
In this respect, Islam is unique. You do not find any jealousies, quarrels or disputes among heirs, unless these are motivated either by ignorance of the system, greed or a mixture of both. Muslims who are aware of the Islamic system of inheritance accept their portions without any question, knowing that they are entitled only to what God has given them. They know that no person may have any say in how his property is divided among his heirs, except through making a will. They also realize that whatever God gives them is fair and equitable. No injustice is done to any one, man or woman.
Many people sometimes confuse having a share of inheritance with inheriting by will. The two are quite different. As the Qur’an states the provisions of inheritance clearly, it mentions no less than four times that these provisions take effect only after the settlement of any debts the deceased person may have left outstanding and the execution of any will he may have made. The costs of burial of the deceased person and settlement of debts take precedence over every thing else. This is only logical, since debts are owed to other people. They are; therefore, payable from the estate left by the deceased, before anyone else makes any claim to any share of it. Inheritance means the division of the deceased’s property. His debts are not his property, but the property of others who had lent the deceased their money.
A ‘will’ normally has two purposes: It is as a charitable act, by which a person makes sure that one portion of his or her property goes to charity. He hopes that by so doing he will increase his reward from God. Some people provide for a continuous act of charity, such as using the money to finance some sort of public utility, such as a health center, a school, an orphanage, or, as used to happen in the past, to provide drinking water on travelers’ routes. By so doing, they ensure continuous reward for themselves after they have died. We have learnt from the Prophet, peace be upon him, that after death, a human being cannot earn any reward except in one of three ways. They are: a continuous act of charity, a useful contribution to knowledge and a dutiful child who prays God to bestow His grace on his or her parents. One way of establishing a continuous act of charity is by using the provision of a will.
The other purpose of a will is to provide for relatives who are not heirs but may be in need of help. If a person has been looking after some poor relatives and fears that they will not have enough to look after themselves after his death, he may make sure that they get a portion of his property after his death through a will. The only condition in this case is that such relatives must not be among his heirs who have shares apportioned to them by God. A will may not be made in favor of an heir. The logic behind this restriction is simple. God has determined the shares of heirs. This division is based on perfect justice. Had a person been free to leave an additional portion to an heir by will, that may allow the disturbance of the system God has laid down, which is fair and equitable. Such a disturbance of fairness can only lead to injustice.
The question may arise: "How much can a person leave by will?" Schools of thought are unanimous that the maximum is one third of one’s property. This is based on an authentic Hadith narrated by one of the leading companions of the Prophet, Sa’ad ibn Abu Waqas, who says: “The Prophet, peace be upon him, came once to see me when I was ill in Makkah. [Sa’ad felt very uneasy about dying in the land from which he had emigrated]. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘May God have mercy on the son of Afraa.’ I said, ‘Messenger of God, may I bequeath all my property by will?’ The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘How about half of my property?’ He said, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘One third, then?’ He said, ‘One third is all right, but one third is plenty. To leave your heirs self-sufficient is far better than leaving them in need, begging people for a portion of what they have. Whatever you spend is an act of charity, even when you put a small bite in your wife’s mouth. May God give you a long life and make some people benefit by you and others come to grief at your hands.’ [Sa’ad had only one daughter at the time].” [Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, An-Nasa’ie, At-Tirmithi, Ibn Majah and others]. ~
The family members of a married son who dies when his father is still alive are not given shares in the father’s property. Numerous instances have shown that the children of the deceased son may suffer from extreme deprivation. It may be said that the father should make ample provisions for the deceased son’s family. In many cases this is not done. What is the remedy for such a problem? Perhaps I should add that this particular situation is often utilized in propaganda against Islam. Could you please shed some light on this complex issue? May I also ask whether the value of the estate should be considered in the year when the death of the owner occurs, or at the time when his estate is divided which is usually many years later. A further question concerns with property bought by the husband but registered in the names of the married couple. Should it be divided after the death of the husband, or the wife, or both husband and wife?
The first thing we should understand is that God has given us a complete system, which allows for no injustice whatsoever. Where it may appear to us that a particular case has not been dealt with in the Qur'an, and the Sunnah, we have only to make a fresh look at Islamic legislation and are bound to find a satisfactory answer.
Islam dislikes poverty, which it describes as something that “approaches disbelief.” This means that poverty may lead people to deny God and His wisdom. It simply does not happen in Islamic legislation that young children are left un-catered for, simply because their father has died when his own father [the grandfather] is still alive. They are provided for in a variety of ways. Indeed, Islam does not leave any member of its community in a helpless situation. Young children who lose their father are automatically placed in the charge of their grandfather. They would obviously inherit much of their father’s estate. The only other heirs would be their mother and their paternal grandparents, if they have no grandfather, then their paternal uncles are required to take care of them. Orphans who have nobody to bring them up are looked after by the Islamic state or the Muslim community who are deemed not to have fulfilled their duties if they allow any such orphans to grow up in misery and deprivation.
However, the question of direct inheritance is often raised in the circumstances. The point is that if the grandfather dies first, all his children will inherit his property. If any of his children dies shortly afterward, leaving behind young children, they then will inherit their father whose property includes his share of the estate of his own father [the grandfather]. It does not happen all the time, however, that a father dies before all his children. Their parents survive some children. If such an early death occurs and the deceased is not rich while his father is rich, God would not grant the children he left in a terrible situation if they are not allowed to inherit it from their grandfather?
To cater for this situation, Islam operates a principle called “the compulsory will”. It applies specifically in such a situation and it has been advocated and explained by Imam Ibn Hazm, one of the greatest scholars in our history. It has been incorporated in the family laws of a number of Muslim countries including Syria & Egypt. It is a simple principle, which looks at the situation of children who have lost their father, but their grandfather is alive. When the grandfather dies, he is considered to have a will in favor of his grandchildren. As you realize, every person is entitled to bequeath up to one third of his total property for charitable purposes or to relatives who are not heirs. Most schools of thought consider drawing up such a will, for an amount not exceeding one third of the total property, as a highly recommended practice. However, some scholars, including Ibn Hazm, consider it a duty. In this particular case, it is deemed to exist whether the grandfather has drawn it or not. It gives the grandchildren the smaller of two amounts: either one third of the grandfather’s property or the share of the children’s father, which he would have inherited had he survived his father.
This is certainly a fair principle and looks after young members of the Muslim community who find themselves in a helpless situation.
It is needless to say that when the children’s father dies, it is open to the grandfather to provide for them in a variety of ways, such as making gifts to them, which ensure their future. If he does so, then he does not contravene any Islamic principle provided that he treats them equally. In the case when the grandfather omits to do that or dies before he has time to do it, the principle of the compulsory will provides a cover for this eventuality.
When a person dies, his estate should be divided among his heirs immediately, not many years later as you say the practice is. This may be a practice in your part of the world but thanks to God it is not the practice all over the Muslim world. In the majority of Muslim communities and in the majority of cases, the estate of a deceased person is shared out by his heirs shortly after his death as Islam recommends. The Prophet, peace be upon him, has told us to divide the property left by any person as soon as possible, however small the property is. If the property is not divided immediately, then its value at the time of sharing it out should be considered, unless this represents an injustice to one or more of the heirs. The point is that if parts of the estate have appreciated in value, as it is often the case with real property, then the appreciation should accrue to all the heirs. Similarly, depreciation should be borne out by all of them according to their shares, unless this delay is caused by one of them against the wishes and interests of the other. There is, then, a clear case for that particular heir to bear the loss.
The property of each person should be divided after his own death. Even if one property is registered jointly in the names of husband, and wife, the share which belongs to each one of them should be divided to their heirs immediately after that person’s death. Leaving such a share out until the other partner dies may create many other problems and ill feeling, and may bring in other heirs who have shares in a particular part of the property, of either one as a couple. The Islamic view is always for the share out of the property of a deceased person shortly after his death. ~