As-salaamu-alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu

Welcome to the official website of Ghassan Al Barqawi

Latest Audio Lectures

2011/12/10 Verses of interest

                   

2011/12/30 Quaran_NegationOfgodhoodOfJesusAndCommantoJewsAndAhristiansToBeMuslims

                   

To Read the recently posted financial articles please click on the link provided on the left hand side under the resources heading.

The article is provided below but can be read more easily if accessed through the link provided on your left.

The articles include

1) Buying A house

2) Guidance Residential Letter

3) Zakah on my 401 K

JazakAllahu Khairan

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First : there is no such thing as ( Islamic Financing Company) in Islam, the word (Financing ) makes the whole trade transaction Haram (Unlawful)  . Unless you are referring to what is known as (Islamic banks)  which as far as I know nothing but a scam and playing games with Allah. So Islamically,  you Must stay away from such swindlers .
Second:
I cant be precise unless I am able to study the legally binding business contract between the Actual  seller and the Actual  buyer.

 if the sale is on credit not cash.
then the following example will be very helpful to have a general idea:

The true Islamic transaction of ((بيع الأجل عن طريق بيع المرابحة) (Baya’ Al-

Ajal ann Tareeq Baya’ al- Murabah) (i.e., Credit Sale Through Cost-Plus

Sale)) is extremely simple and direct to the point.  This is how it is

supposed to be done according the true Islamic law:

 

1- A potential BUYER approaches a potential INVESTOR (SELLER) the POTENTIAL BUYER says to the INVESTOR I am interested in buying such property.  If you buy it I will buy it from you.

2- The INVESTOR who is interested in this offer goes and PURCHASES it for HIMSELF not for the potential BUYER.

3- After the INVESTOR BUYS it and totally owns it (i.e., free of any liens whatsoever) and the deed (title), (i.e., all legal documents) is registered to his name only and it is FISCALLY and PHYSICALLY in his position, and still interested in selling it, then he approaches the POTENTIAL BUYER and tell him I have such property, do you want to Buy it?

4- If the potential BUYER says yes, then,

5- They have to agree on cash sale or (Baya’ Al- Ajal ann Tareeq Baya’ al- Murabah) (i.e., Credit Sale Through Cost-Plus Sale).

6- If they agreed on ((Baya’ Al- Ajal ann Tareeq Baya’ al- Murabah) (i.e., Credit Sale Through Cost-Plus Sale),

7- Then the SELLER must declare to the BUYER the cost (the price) that he paid to ACQUIRE the offered for sale property (i.e., the price on the bill of sale (e.g. $ 100, 000.00) one hundred thousand dollars).

8- Then the BUYER offers to buy it on CREDIT to be paid on INSTALLMENTS over a period of (e.g. thirty years.)

9- If the SELLER agrees then he must state the (Ribh) (PROFIT) that he is willing to accept for such term.

10- The SELLER says: I agree to SELL such property to you on credit to be paid on installments over a period of thirty years  and my profit will be ($ 150,000.00) which will make the TOTAL price ($250,000.00).

11- Assuming that both the SELLER and BUYER agree then the price ($ 250,000.00) will be fixed. (A)That means the contractual conditions must state that in case of late payment or no payment the price (THE DEBT) does not increase and no financial penalties, charges, fees or interests will be charged for any reason or to any party even if this party is charity.  (B) In case of early payment ((partially or totally)) the price (THE DEBT) does not decrease (no discount).

12- The PERIOD of the DEBT must be stated clearly (e.g. thirty Years), date of each installment (payment) must be stated clearly and the amount of each installment must be stated clearly. Which means (e.g. thirty years, three hundred sixty payments, at the beginning of each month staring 11-01-07, the first payment is (e.g. $ 30,000.00 and the remainder of the (Debt ($ 220,000.00)) will be paid on three hundred fifty nine installments (payments) each will be $ 612.81337 and the date of the end of the thirty years period must be stated clearly too.)

13- A contract will be drafted then finalized.

14- It is the right of the SELLER to demand ISLAMIC COLLATERAL, a property of an equal value or more (e.g. land, factory, jewelry etc … or a cosigner (i.e., guarantor) who is accepted by the SELLER as it was done during the life of Prophet Muhammad (SAAWS).

15- Both the BUYER and the SELLER and two male Muslim witnesses sign the contract.

16- The SELLER receives the first payment and instantly, completely and unconditionally transfers the title of the purchased property to the name of the BUYER free of all liens. In the same way and conditions when a person Islamically lends another person a sum of cash (e.g. $1,000,000.00) not different in any way, shape or form.

17- After the signing of the contract the BUYER can do as he wishes with the property that he just purchased on credit, including but not limited to selling it, demolishing it, gifting it, etc …

   

      I ask Almighty Allah to guide us all and keep us on His straight path.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any Islamic assistance.

May Allah reward you best in this life and the next.

 Truly yours,

Resident Imam of the Islamic Society of Mobile

Ghassan Al-Barqawi, MBA (and Ijazah in Hadith)

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بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Guidance Residential Letter 

(Declining Balance Co-Ownership)

 

Dear brother Furqan Ahamad,

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته                                                   

Thank you so much for your call and I am sorry that I could not talk to you and brother

Yousef for a longer time because it was the time for the Iqamah and I was getting very late. However Inshaa' Allah it will not be the last and we will have more time to talk more.

                                               

Enclosed is my Arabic book (الْمُشَارَكَةُ الْمُتَنَاقِصَةُ ) which I translated to read:

The Partnership That Is Reduced Gradually till One Party Owns It.

I ask Allah to make it beneficial for you and the rest of the Muslims. Please do not hesitate to call me for any question.

I will be waiting for the contract that you promised to send to me, hoping that it will be an original copy of the final contract that you sign with your partners as the final and only legally binding contract to all parties-.

Meanwhile, here are its five Islamic conditions:

1) The partnership contract must NOT include directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly any binding condition to any party to buy or lease the share of any of the other partners. And must NOT include any condition of financial penalty and or any civil penalty to any party of the contract in the case of the refusal or decline of any of the parties to execute the independent future optional agreement to lease or to buy any of the other party share.                .

2) Once all parties sign the partnership contract all parties of the partnership each according to his percentage of ownership MUST share all expenses and all profits and all losses. This includes taxes and insurance that are imposed by the secular governments.

3) IF after signing the partnership contract the two parties optionally agree to lease or sell the share or part of the share of one of the parties to the other party it MUST be conducted and executed through and by a totally separate and independent contract that is NOT attached or combined in any way to the partnership contract. This independent and separate lease or buy contract must be signed at the time of the purchase or the lease NOT before.

4) The value of the sale or the lease MUST be equal to the fair market value of the commodity at the time of the sale or lease NOT its fair market value at the time of the partnership.  

5) The partnership contract and lease contract and sale contract MUST be free of all

financial contracts that are forbidden by Islam such as the insurance.

May Allah bless you and your efforts and please contact me if I can be of any assistance.

والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

Ghassan Abdelfattah (Al-Barqawi), MBA

04-03-03  

Imam of the Masjid of the Islamic society of Mobile

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Zakat on 401K

As slaam alikum wa rahmatullah.
My friend asks:

When I was with my employer. I put 5% of my money in a 401k retirement account, which they matched.

Fortunately, I was not required to take the standard interest bearing options for investment. I was allowed to distribute it to the stocks of my choice, but am not allowed to remove it until 59 1/2 years of age or for purchasing a home or other hardship 5 years from now.

I used to pay 2.5% on this every year for zakah. I recently came across some different info regarding the amount that should be paid on this.

Do you have any info on Zakah for a retirement account?

 

The reply from Shaykh Ghassan Al-Barqawi:

As-Salamu Alaykum

Thanks for your trust. May Allah bless you all.

Before we answer the suggested question, I have to tell you that Islamically speaking, it is not allowed for the Muslim to willingly participate in the (401k) regardless of the options that they have given you because the stock market all over the world is not Islamic and full with the violations the  Islamic law of business . And no company is free of such violations. And no one that I know suggests otherwise, even the so called Islamic boards of the so called Islamic indexes. That is why they came up with the following scam, if the interest of the receivables of a company is 45% or more, you are not allowed to invest in but if less than that then you are allowed. !!

If the interest of the payables of a company is 33% or more you are not allowed to invest but if less, then you are allowed. If the other interests are 5% or more you are not allowed to invest but if less, then you are allowed.

Even the Grand  Satan (Iblease ) cannot come up with  a cheating worst than that . Then they tell you take such and such percentage for yourself and the rest you give into charity.

And the other violations are many. Therefore the Muslim must immediately opt out and liquidate even with great loss and or taxes and penalties

If I find my lectures about the legality of the stock market in Islam, I will forward it to you.



Therefore the answer to your question is: if your assets are available to you in cash then you have to pay zakah (2.5%) if you had them saved for one Islamic calendar year and the value of them or with other cash or gold or silver worth 85 grams of Gold ore more.

If they are not available to you then there is no Zakah to be paid. However if you are allowed to cash them even with penalties and or taxes then you must pay the zakah on them. If your assets are not in cash then there is no standardized Zakah on them, which means you pay on them charity as much as you believe pleasing to Allah.

 ghassan al-barqawi