Investigating the Increase or Decrease of Age in Official Documents
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Your Eminence! A man has a father who was born in 1973, but in the civil registry it is recorded as 1975. Jobs are now restricted to a specific age, based on which acceptance and retirement are determined. The ministry has established a committee to look into such ages. Is it permissible for him to apply to the committee to review his age, given that there is no prior birth certificate specifying his age? And does he commit a sin if they decrease or increase his age?The Shaykh: Why did he change it from 1973 to 1975?The questioner: He does not know.
My father passed away,And he is a sheep owner who does not know! The Shaykh: The obligatory thing, may Allah bless you, is to tell him: You must repent, and repentance means not continuing in the sin. You must inform the authorities that the truth is that he was born in 1973.
The questioner: If he goes to the committee and asks for his age to be reviewed a second time?The Shaykh: This is good.
The questioner: And the committee increased or decreased his age.
The Shaykh: No.
If the committee, as it stands, is thought to not accept his statement and not pay attention to him, then there is no benefit in it, and he should not go. But if he sees that the committee will accept what he says and base its decision on it;So it is obligatory for him to go and say: My actual age is such and such.
And sustenance is from Allah. It is absolutely impossible to seek Allah’s sustenance through His disobedience.Because Allah says: [Al-Talaq: 2-3] And the implication of this is: that he who does not fear Allah, He will not make a way out for him.
The questioner: Does he base it on his father’s statement, O Shaykh?The Shaykh: It is known; because he himself may not know when he was born.
The Shaykh: Well, his father was a Bedouin who passed away, and he did not know whether it was correct or incorrect, so the father, who owned livestock, did not know.
In any case, first: As I said: ignorance prevails among people.
And secondly: That negligence and greed prevail among people, and in the past, matters were not as they are today—praise be to Allah. In the past, people were poor and wanted to reach wealth by any means, but praise be to Allah, conditions have improved now. So the obligatory thing is to inform the authorities of the reality, provided that he is convinced that they will agree with him,But if he says: If they will not listen to his statement, then there is no benefit.
My father passed away,And he is a sheep owner who does not know! The Shaykh: The obligatory thing, may Allah bless you, is to tell him: You must repent, and repentance means not continuing in the sin. You must inform the authorities that the truth is that he was born in 1973.
The questioner: If he goes to the committee and asks for his age to be reviewed a second time?The Shaykh: This is good.
The questioner: And the committee increased or decreased his age.
The Shaykh: No.
If the committee, as it stands, is thought to not accept his statement and not pay attention to him, then there is no benefit in it, and he should not go. But if he sees that the committee will accept what he says and base its decision on it;So it is obligatory for him to go and say: My actual age is such and such.
And sustenance is from Allah. It is absolutely impossible to seek Allah’s sustenance through His disobedience.Because Allah says:
And whoever fears Allah - He will make for him a way out (3) And will provide for him from where he does not expect.
وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجاً * وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ حَيْثُ لا يَحْتَسِبُThe questioner: Does he base it on his father’s statement, O Shaykh?The Shaykh: It is known; because he himself may not know when he was born.
The Shaykh: Well, his father was a Bedouin who passed away, and he did not know whether it was correct or incorrect, so the father, who owned livestock, did not know.
In any case, first: As I said: ignorance prevails among people.
And secondly: That negligence and greed prevail among people, and in the past, matters were not as they are today—praise be to Allah. In the past, people were poor and wanted to reach wealth by any means, but praise be to Allah, conditions have improved now. So the obligatory thing is to inform the authorities of the reality, provided that he is convinced that they will agree with him,But if he says: If they will not listen to his statement, then there is no benefit.