Establishing a Cooperative Fund
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Praise be to Allah alone, and may peace and blessings be upon the one after whom there is no prophet. After that: The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta has reviewed what was sent to His Eminence the Grand Mufti from His Royal Highness Prince Khalid al-Faisal ibn Abdulaziz , the Prince of the Asir Region, with reference number (47612) and date 11/8/1422 AH, which was referred to the Committee by the General Secretariat of the Council of Senior Scholars with reference number (2078) and date 15/8/1422 AH, regarding the agreement of the Bani Ali Nahs Shahrani group to establish a cooperative fund specific to them, and His Highness requested that the aforementioned agreement be studied and a fatwa be issued regarding it. The text of His Highness’s letter states: Referring to the letter from the head of the Ya'ari Center, reference number (1144), dated 24/5/1422 AH, regarding the documents related to the lawsuit of: Rashid ibn Ali Jarmān against the deputy Sa'd Sa'id Jarmān and his associates, concerning the fund for his tribe. Since the documents were referred to the honorable judge of the Ya'ari Court , the judgment was issued on 23/11/1421 AH, and ratified by the Court of Cassation by decision number (373) on 10/1/1422 AH, which informed the plaintiff that his lawsuit is not admissible in Sharia because it was not properly formalized due to his lack of legal standing to formalize it. When the case was referred to the competent authorities to execute what was issued regarding it, Rashid Ali
Jarmān appeared and stated on 7/5/1422 AH that his lawsuit is against the agreement and the funds that contradict the Sharia, and he requests the enforcement of this Emirate’s letter number (55567) dated 23/9/1421 AH. Based on this, these documents were returned to the Emirate by the letter from the head of the Ya'ari Center mentioned above, stating that our general order number (369S) dated 29/12/1420 AH had previously been issued, referring to the fact that a similar case had previously been raised to His Highness the Minister of Interior regarding a fund for another group, which faced objections. His Highness, in his letter number (12792) dated 5/3/1420 AH, referred that matter and the fatwas issued by His Eminence the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom and the Head of the Council of Senior Scholars. In that regard, a telegram from His Eminence the Mufti, number (82S), dated 8/6/1420 AH, was received, stating that the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research had studied the agreement and found that there were Sharia observations regarding parts of that agreement, including the inclusion of financial obligations, which are not permissible in Sharia because they lead to enmity and division. The Sharia principle states that means leading to any enmity must be blocked. Upon studying these documents by the competent authority in the Emirate, it was deemed advisable to present the documents of this case to Your Eminence to study the cooperative fund agreement of the Bani Ali Nahs group, dated 11/2/1420 AH, and the conditions attached to it, and to issue a Sharia fatwa
regarding the possibility of retaining this fund or not, in light of the increasing insistence of those demanding its cancellation, until the number of copies of this case reached more than two hundred and fifty copies. Therefore, we hope that Your Eminence will study the agreement and the conditions attached to it and issue a fatwa clarifying whether that agreement and its conditions are permissible in Sharia. A copy of our letter has been provided to the competent authority in this Emirate to be circulated to all provincial governors, center heads, tribal sheikhs, and deputies, instructing them not to affix their seals to cooperative fund agreements so that those agreements do not take on an official form, and thus some may view them as compliant when they are originally contrary to what His Highness the Minister of Interior decided to prohibit in order to prevent problems, as indicated in our general order number (396S) dated 29/12/1420 AH.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it responded that it had reviewed the agreement of the Bani Ali Nahs tribe fund and what was attached to it. It appeared to the Committee that there are observations regarding this agreement, including: 1- In clause (First) of the agreement, the phrase appears: “Its payment shall be made by the entire tribe equally among those who hold the card.” This phrase is subject to scrutiny; because it is included in bearing the blood money (diyah) that is obligatory upon the 'aqilah (kin group), and the matter regarding what is obligatory upon the 'aqilah is that the closer to the perpetrator bears more than the farther, and that
the poor person bears nothing, as does the woman, and whoever has reached the age of accountability participates in the 'aqilah, even if he does not have a card. 2- In clause (Second), it states: “Any person from the tribe who holds a financial amount in blood money, as a result of negligence or conviction in any case not compromising honor, and this is established in Sharia, the tribe shall bear the proportion of (70%).” This text contradicts what is established among jurists that the 'aqilah bears the full diyah in cases of accidental killing and quasi-intentional killing, and "blood" when used in a general sense refers to killing. 3- In clause (Third), the phrase appears: “Excluded from this agreement are those who bear amounts... as well as those who aggress against any member of the tribe...” Excluding one who aggresses against a member of the tribe by mistake has no basis, for there is no difference in the 'aqilah bearing the cost whether the one killed accidentally or quasi-intentionally is a member of the tribe or someone else. 4- In clause (Fifth), the phrase appears: “And the fund is like an 'aqilah binding upon the tribe.” Two points respond to this phrase: First: Making the fund like the 'aqilah is incorrect; because participation in the fund is a voluntary matter, whereas the obligation of the diyah upon the 'aqilah is a matter in which there is no choice. Second: Making the fund binding upon the members of the tribe has no basis, because it is compelling
them to do what the Sharia has not compelled them to do. Based on what has been mentioned, this agreement is not suitable for implementation in its current form. It is necessary that in any agreement of this type, entry into it be voluntary, and that no harm or boycott from the tribe be inflicted upon those who do not enter into it, and that no late payment fines be imposed on those who delay payment, and that its revenues and expenditures be Sharia-compliant.
Jarmān appeared and stated on 7/5/1422 AH that his lawsuit is against the agreement and the funds that contradict the Sharia, and he requests the enforcement of this Emirate’s letter number (55567) dated 23/9/1421 AH. Based on this, these documents were returned to the Emirate by the letter from the head of the Ya'ari Center mentioned above, stating that our general order number (369S) dated 29/12/1420 AH had previously been issued, referring to the fact that a similar case had previously been raised to His Highness the Minister of Interior regarding a fund for another group, which faced objections. His Highness, in his letter number (12792) dated 5/3/1420 AH, referred that matter and the fatwas issued by His Eminence the Grand Mufti of the Kingdom and the Head of the Council of Senior Scholars. In that regard, a telegram from His Eminence the Mufti, number (82S), dated 8/6/1420 AH, was received, stating that the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research had studied the agreement and found that there were Sharia observations regarding parts of that agreement, including the inclusion of financial obligations, which are not permissible in Sharia because they lead to enmity and division. The Sharia principle states that means leading to any enmity must be blocked. Upon studying these documents by the competent authority in the Emirate, it was deemed advisable to present the documents of this case to Your Eminence to study the cooperative fund agreement of the Bani Ali Nahs group, dated 11/2/1420 AH, and the conditions attached to it, and to issue a Sharia fatwa
regarding the possibility of retaining this fund or not, in light of the increasing insistence of those demanding its cancellation, until the number of copies of this case reached more than two hundred and fifty copies. Therefore, we hope that Your Eminence will study the agreement and the conditions attached to it and issue a fatwa clarifying whether that agreement and its conditions are permissible in Sharia. A copy of our letter has been provided to the competent authority in this Emirate to be circulated to all provincial governors, center heads, tribal sheikhs, and deputies, instructing them not to affix their seals to cooperative fund agreements so that those agreements do not take on an official form, and thus some may view them as compliant when they are originally contrary to what His Highness the Minister of Interior decided to prohibit in order to prevent problems, as indicated in our general order number (396S) dated 29/12/1420 AH.
After the Committee’s study of the inquiry, it responded that it had reviewed the agreement of the Bani Ali Nahs tribe fund and what was attached to it. It appeared to the Committee that there are observations regarding this agreement, including: 1- In clause (First) of the agreement, the phrase appears: “Its payment shall be made by the entire tribe equally among those who hold the card.” This phrase is subject to scrutiny; because it is included in bearing the blood money (diyah) that is obligatory upon the 'aqilah (kin group), and the matter regarding what is obligatory upon the 'aqilah is that the closer to the perpetrator bears more than the farther, and that
the poor person bears nothing, as does the woman, and whoever has reached the age of accountability participates in the 'aqilah, even if he does not have a card. 2- In clause (Second), it states: “Any person from the tribe who holds a financial amount in blood money, as a result of negligence or conviction in any case not compromising honor, and this is established in Sharia, the tribe shall bear the proportion of (70%).” This text contradicts what is established among jurists that the 'aqilah bears the full diyah in cases of accidental killing and quasi-intentional killing, and "blood" when used in a general sense refers to killing. 3- In clause (Third), the phrase appears: “Excluded from this agreement are those who bear amounts... as well as those who aggress against any member of the tribe...” Excluding one who aggresses against a member of the tribe by mistake has no basis, for there is no difference in the 'aqilah bearing the cost whether the one killed accidentally or quasi-intentionally is a member of the tribe or someone else. 4- In clause (Fifth), the phrase appears: “And the fund is like an 'aqilah binding upon the tribe.” Two points respond to this phrase: First: Making the fund like the 'aqilah is incorrect; because participation in the fund is a voluntary matter, whereas the obligation of the diyah upon the 'aqilah is a matter in which there is no choice. Second: Making the fund binding upon the members of the tribe has no basis, because it is compelling
them to do what the Sharia has not compelled them to do. Based on what has been mentioned, this agreement is not suitable for implementation in its current form. It is necessary that in any agreement of this type, entry into it be voluntary, and that no harm or boycott from the tribe be inflicted upon those who do not enter into it, and that no late payment fines be imposed on those who delay payment, and that its revenues and expenditures be Sharia-compliant.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.