Women in Masjid, Alcohol-Based Perfumes, Divorce, Daughters' Share in Inheritance, Share of Adopted Children in Inheritance

Q 1. I am writing to you to regarding a situation at our mosque. Recently the executive committee decided to stop women from attending the mosque.

What I want to know is what does the Shari’ah say about this? As far as I know Islam treats both men and women equally.

A 1. The Prophet -peace be upon him- very clearly told men not to exclude women from the mosques. It is reported that Syedna ‘Umar’s wife used to attend the Jama’ah prayer in the Masjid at Fajr and ‘Isha times. It was said to her, ‘Why do you leave home, you know that ‘Umar does not like that and he feels ashamed (that you leave home at that time)?’ She said, ‘So what is preventing him from forbidding me?’ The person said, ‘It is this word of the Prophet -peace be upon him, ‘Do not prevent the she-servants of Allah from the mosques of Allah.’ (al-Bukhari, Hadith no. 489)

It is not obligatory on women to attend the Jama’ah (congregational) prayers, because they have other obligations to their home and children, but if they have time and it is safe for them to attend the mosque and they come with proper Islamic dress then they should not be stopped. We should rather make our mosques in such a way that men and women both may pray there observing the rules of prayers.

Some people use a saying of Sayyidah ‘Aishah -may Allah be pleased with her. It is reported that she said sometime after the Prophet left this world, “If the Prophet -peace be upon him- would have seen what the women do now he would have stopped them from coming to mosques.” But the great scholar of Hadith Ibn Hajar says, “This statement does not say very clearly that Sayyidah ‘Aishah gave the Fatwa that women are forbidden to come to mosques.” (See Fath al-Bari, p. 928).

It is not known that any Companions of the Prophet or the prominent jurists forbade women from attending the prayers in the mosques. The custom of preventing women from attending the mosques started later in some countries. It unfortunately contributed in making many of our sisters backward and un-educated about their faith.

In America especially women go every where. They are in the markets, in malls, in restaurants, in offices. It is ironic that some men allow them to go to all the places of temptation but they want to stop them from coming to the places where they can pray to their Lord and learn about their faith. Please ask your executive committee to change this un-Islamic decision. If you do not have a proper place for sisters to pray in the Masjid, raise funds and make proper arrangements for them.

Q 2. A man signed a divorce paper but he did not give it to his wife and later destroyed that paper. He never said the words of divorce to his wife, nor filed for legal divorce. Is it counted a divorce if he signed the paper although he later destroyed it?

A 2. If he wrote and signed the paper of divorce with clear intention that he was divorcing his wife at that time, then the divorce has taken place whether he gave that paper to his wife or not. If he changed his mind then he should revoke his divorce by words or by resuming matrimonial relations with his wife within the ‘iddah period.

However, if he was only preparing the paper of divorce and his intention was to divorce his wife later when he will give her the paper, then the divorce has not taken place. The divorce takes place with the intention of the husband and with the words of divorce. It is not necessary for the divorce to be communicated to the wife in order to become affective. One should not say or write even in one’s private notes that he has divorced his wife.

These words are serious and one should say them with full understanding of the consequences.

Q 3. Some people said that Muslims are not allowed to use perfumes that contain alcohol. Those who use it have to wash their body before praying. Hope you can give an explanation on this issue.

A 3. It is forbidden to drink alcohol. In the perfumes usually denatured alcohol is used. This alcohol is not unclean (najas). According to some jurists even natural alcohol is not najas. According to the Shari’ah, there is nothing wrong in using alcohol based perfumes.

Q 4. We understand that the son has a higher inheritance proportion of the family wealth than the daughter according to the Islamic Shari’ah. Is it permissible for the parent to write a will declaring that they want their wealth distributed evenly?

A 4. It is Haram to make a will against the rules of Allah. Whatever the rules of Allah are they should be followed to the letter of the law. However, if the parents feel that their daughters are more in need of their money, then they may ask or suggest to their sons to be more considerate of their sisters. There is nothing wrong if the heirs or any heir want to give his/her share or part of the share to someone else. This will be a gift of the brother/s to the sister/s.

Of course during life one can give to any one whatever he/she wants to give. This rule is only about the distribution of wealth after the death.

Q 5. If you adopted a child, is it permissible to give a part of your wealth to him/her in your will?

A 5. Adoption (tabanni) in the sense of changing the name of a child’s biological parents is not permissible in Islam. However, if one takes care of a child as a custodian or guardian and wants to write something for that child in his/her will, then one is allowed to do that within one third of his/her estate. One is allowed to give up to one third of one’s wealth to any charity or to any one who would not receive any share of the inheritance