What is the ruling on the charitable association (the Yemeni Hikmah Association)?

The questioner : The people of Yemen, what Allah willed... the arrival of trials.

The Shaykh : May Allah bless you.

The questioner : We have some questions, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Some people may come to us!

The questioner: Yes.

The Shaykh : Others from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for questions as well. Therefore, I suggest that you choose the questions from the most important to the less important, so that when they arrive, they can also take their turn. Otherwise, the turn will be yours, if Allah wills, as broadly as possible. But the important thing is to start with the most important, then the next most important.

The questioner : All right, in the name of Allah, and may the prayers and peace be upon the Messenger of Allah. We have a presence hereThe Shaykh : A matter that has occupied the minds of many young people, and especially the young people of the Islamic awakening. This matter is the issue of charitable associations. Some people see them as innovators and misguiders, and consider them to be a loathsome party!

The Shaykh : What do they consider them to be?

The questioner : That they are a loathsome party.

The Shaykh : A party.

The questioner : Yes, a loathsome party that has no basis in the Shari'ah. And especially we have an association called the Yemeni Hikmah Charitable Association. This is a small booklet explaining the objectives of this association. A great deal of debate has revolved around it. I will explain to you the objectives of the association so that you can judge based on what you know of the objectives. Among its objectives is contributing to highlighting the Islamic heritage of Yemen in particular, and the righteous predecessors in general, as represented in manuscripts and writings, and working to authenticate them, and thereby printing and publishing them in coordination with the General Authority for Antiquities and libraries. The second objective is providing care for orphan students, supporting preachers and those who have no provider, and preparing them socially and academically. The third is building mosques, public libraries, clinics, digging wells, and establishing funds for zakah, and insisting on distributing it in its prescribed channels after the approval of the relevant competent authority. The fourth is calling people to hold fast to the religion of Allah the Exalted with wisdom and good instruction by all lawful means. The fifth is enlightening Muslims about their religion and working to highlight the correct teachings that put an end to religious innovations and superstitions that have disfigured the beauty of Islam and hindered the progress of Muslims. The sixth is cooperating and coordinating with local authorities and associations, and participating and contributing to regional and global authorities and associations with similar objectives in the field of achieving the general objectives of the association, after coordinating with the relevant administrative authorities. These are the objectives of the association, O presence.The Shaykh : And we add to the clarification that the association has members who affiliate with it, and each member is given a membership card without a photo, and each member pays fifty riyals monthly. The association has an administrative body, i.e., a board of directors, elected by the members. The chairman of the board is elected a president, a general secretary, and a financial officer. These people manage the affairs of the association by appointment from the board of directors, and they hold a monthly meeting or as needed. The board of directors employs whoever it deems necessary to facilitate the work of the association, for example, employing a person in the orphan sponsor committee, another in the projects committee, and another in the needy families committee, and so on. The association has been in existence for about two years until now, and it has sponsored a group of orphans and needy families, and it has supported Muslim Eritrean refugees and those from Somalia, and those returning from the diaspora, meaning from Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War, without making their affiliation with the association a condition for this work, but rather their happiness without restriction or condition, which indicates the absence of narrow loyalty in it or any party loyalty. The association has schools for memorizing the Qur'an, and it has conditions for supporting the Qur'an teacher, which are that he must pass the prescribed exam to determine his competence, that he be sound in creed and committed to the Sunnah, that he adhere to the time specified for study, that he prepare the students to know the extent of their diligence, and that the teacher submits a report on his teaching record for the students or their level, and that he attend the meetings specific to the memorization teachers to address teaching issues. The association works to support scientific centers and preachers, and the association requires from the supported preacher that he submit a report on the course of his work and a clear program so that it can be followed up by the scientific committee in the association, and that his work be organized and not random, and that he submit a list of the books he is studying and agree on that with the scientific committee, which determines the type of books that should be studied in the various subjects. The question now is: is this work prescribed, or is it a misguiding innovation, or a tyrannical thing, or a tyrant, or a party? We ask for clarification and the removal of the difficulty, and may Allah reward you with good. We also ask you to look at the association's logo and note the phrase written in the logo: "Faith is Yemeni and Wisdom is Yemeni." And also in the introduction of the booklet, the writer of the introduction quoted the saying of Allah the Exalted: and he also quoted the hadith: Is there any objection to this intention in this context? Please inform us, may Allah reward you with good?

The Shaykh : First, any association established on the basis of correct Islam, with its rulings derived from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, and from what our righteous predecessors were upon, any association that stands on this basis has no room for denial or accusation of being a party, because all of this falls under the generality of the saying of Allah the Exalted: And cooperation is a purpose intended by the Shari'ah, and its means may differ from time to time, from place to place, and from town to another. Therefore, accusing an association that stands on this basis of being a party or an innovator has no room for saying so, because it contradicts what is established among the scholars in distinguishing between the innovation described generally as misguidance and the good Sunnah. The good Sunnah is the method that occurs and exists to lead Muslims to a purpose that is intended and prescribed by text. So these associations in this time do not differ in their means from the means that have emerged in this era to facilitate for Muslims reaching lawful goals. What we are doing now in this session, using recorders in their various forms and colors, is of this kind. They are means that have been invented. If they are used in what achieves a goal and purpose in the Shari'ah, they are a lawful means, otherwise not. Likewise, the many and different means of transportation today, from cars and airplanes and the like, are also means. If they are used in achieving the objectives of the Shari'ah, they are lawful, otherwise not. This is what I say first. And second, based on what I heard of the association's methodology, I see that its system from a practical standpoint is idealistic, not theoretical; it is not possible to realize it due to the multitude of its branches and interests. So I see that this circle should be narrowed so that the association's methodology is a practical one that can be implemented. And third, and perhaps lastly, if this association is upon the Shari'ah as you see it, where is the money that is collected placed and where is it stored? Here is a question, perhaps you can answer it for me?

The questioner : I mean the money that is collected. Of course, here the Ministry of Insurance required that we open an account in the bank, and the association puts some money in the bank so that the current account is maintained.

The Shaykh: Yes.

The questioner : The current account, and not in an interest-bearing account, and some of it, of course, is tried to be spent immediately on its recipients?

The Shaykh : This is enough to demolish the project. If you cannot find a safe deposit box that is free from the reach of riba (usury or interest), we have a saying in Syria: "Call it unemployment." Call it unemployment. All the associations that are established today, unfortunately, due to the ruling systems that do not follow what Allah has revealed, operate by depositing money in banks. Some are cautious, as you mentioned earlier, but practically speaking, it is not possible to leave the money in the bank in its full amount just to preserve it. In reality, this comes back to the fact that Muslims themselves are not as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) described them in his example: . So, a group seeking to work in a path or a charitable project cannot find a person they can trust with their money. And even if they find such a person, they may not be able to find protection for that money that will be deposited with him. If these foundations are not present to make any Islamic charitable association lawful, I do not advise working in it. Not because this association is an innovation and a bid'ah (religious innovation), for I have stated in my answer that means differ, provided they lead to legitimate objectives. Rather, I say this because I was asked this question by phone from Yemen itself, and I answered with this summary. Therefore, I do not advise continuing in such work unless it is possible to shrink the project, as I indicated in my first answer, or if this is practically feasible. Then, if it is shrunk, the ruling in place there may allow not depositing this smaller amount of money, unlike the larger amount, in a secure place under the custody of a trustworthy person.

The questioner : And as long as its name is an association, does the system not allow the establishment of any association?

The Shaykh : No problem.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : This is understood.

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Understood, and his answer is understood.

The questioner: Yes.