Series of Answers by the Eminent Scholar Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah, Ameer of Hizb ut Tahrir
To the Questions of the Visitors to His Facebook Page "Fiqhi"
Answer to a Question
To Sondes Ragam
Question:
As-Salamu Alaykum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu, our Ameer.
Every Muslim desires to be among those sincere to Allah (swt) and obedient to Him in order to attain His pleasure. However, does obedience to Allah and His Messenger impose upon me the duty to obey the Party (Hizb) in all orders and ijtihads (legal deductions) that you have reached, which may differ from what I previously adopted? I give an example: a woman's awrah (private parts to be covered) with her mahrams (unmarriageable kin) and with Muslim women, which some scholars have agreed is from the navel to the knee. Similarly, the reading of the Quran by a menstruating woman whose period sometimes lasts a long time? I hope for clarification, as misunderstanding and lack of clarity cause much confusion and idle talk among us and waste time in many instances. I apologize for the length and persistence, and I ask Allah to enlighten your insight and your heart.
Answer:
Waalaykum As-Salam wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,
The matter regarding adoption (tabanni) in the Party has been clear as day from the first moment the Party was established; there is no ambiguity in it, by Allah’s permission. A person who decides to work within the Party takes an oath when they become a member of the Party to adopt the opinions, ideas, and constitution of Hizb ut Tahrir, in word and deed. By virtue of this oath, one binds themselves to the Party's adoptions (mutabannayat); meaning, they commit to leaving every opinion that contradicts the Party's adoption and commits in their speech and action to the adopted opinion of the Party, whether in intellectual, political, jurisprudential (fiqhi), or administrative matters.
Accordingly, a member of the Party is not required to adhere to the opinion issued by the Party in every single issue. Rather, they must distinguish between what they are Islamically (shar’an) and administratively required to adhere to, and what they are not required to adhere to. They should ask whether a specific opinion is adopted (mutabanna) or not. If a specific opinion is adopted, the member adopts this opinion because it becomes their own opinion in their capacity as a member, and they must adhere to it Islamically and administratively as they have bound themselves to do so. However, if a specific opinion is not adopted, the member is not required to adopt it or act upon it.
I will give an example of this based on what was mentioned in the question:
A- The awrah of a woman before her mahrams and before Muslim women is as stated in The Social System:
(...It is permissible for a man to look at more than the face and hands of his female mahrams, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim, regarding the parts of the body that are the place of adornment, without being limited to specific parts, due to the existence of the text on this and the absolute nature of this text. Allah (swt) says:
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُولِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ
"and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women." (Surah An-Nur [24]: 31)
All of these people are permitted to see a woman’s hair, neck, the place of her upper-arm bracelets, the place of her anklets, the place of her necklace, and other parts that are considered places of adornment, because Allah says: "and not expose their adornment," meaning the place of their adornment, except to those mentioned in the Quran. It is permissible for them to look at what appears of her in her household clothes (thiyab al-bidhlah), i.e., in a state of being at home. Ash-Shafi’i narrated in his Musnad from Zainab bint Abi Salamah: "That she was breastfed by Asma, the wife of Az-Zubair. She said: I used to see him as a father, and he would enter upon me while I was combing my hair, and he would take some of the braids of my hair and say: 'Come towards me'." It was also narrated that Abu Sufyan entered upon his daughter Umm Habibah, the wife of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, when he came to Madinah to renew the Hudaybiyyah treaty. She folded the carpet of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so he would not sit on it, and she did not veil herself from him. She mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he approved of it, and did not command her to veil herself from him, even though he was a polytheist, because he was a mahram.) End of what was stated in the book, The Social System.
We clarified this opinion in an answer to a question on 13th Rajab 1434 AH - May 23, 2013, regarding the position of a woman’s awrah in front of another woman. We said in the answer:
(...Regarding a woman’s awrah in front of another woman, there are two jurisprudential opinions that have a basis of evidence:
First: That a woman’s awrah in front of another woman is like a man’s awrah in front of another man, i.e., between the navel and the knee. Some jurists hold this view.
Second: That a woman’s awrah in front of another woman is her entire body except for the places where a woman usually adorns herself. This excludes the head (the place of the crown), the face (the place of kohl), the neck and chest (the place of the necklace), the ears (the place of earrings), the upper arm (the place of the armlet), the forearm (the place of the bracelet), the hand (the place of the ring), the shin (the place of the anklet), and the foot (the place of henna).
Anything other than that—meaning anything other than the usual places of adornment for a woman—is considered awrah in front of another woman. That is, it is not only between the navel and the knee...
The evidence for this is the saying of Allah (swt):
وَلَا يُبْدِينَ زِينَتَهُنَّ إِلَّا لِبُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَائِهِنَّ أَوْ آبَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَائِهِنَّ أَوْ أَبْنَاءِ بُعُولَتِهِنَّ أَوْ إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي إِخْوَانِهِنَّ أَوْ بَنِي أَخَوَاتِهِنَّ أَوْ نِسَائِهِنَّ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُنَّ أَوِ التَّابِعِينَ غَيْرِ أُولِي الْإِرْبَةِ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ أَوِ الطِّفْلِ الَّذِينَ لَمْ يَظْهَرُوا عَلَى عَوْرَاتِ النِّسَاءِ
"and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands' fathers, their sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers, their brothers' sons, their sisters' sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women." (Surah An-Nur [24]: 31)
All of these are allowed to see a woman's hair, her neck, the place of her armlet, the place of her anklet, the place of her necklace, and other parts that are considered places of adornment, because Allah says: "and not expose their adornment," meaning the place of their adornment.
The verse mentioned the mahrams and also mentioned women. Therefore, it is permissible to look at the places of adornment between women themselves. As for parts other than the places of adornment, they remain awrah for a woman in front of another woman.
This is what we consider to be the most weighty (ar-rajih) according to the evidence. We say "weighty" because there are those who consider a woman's awrah in front of another woman to be like a man's awrah in front of another man, i.e., between the navel and the knee.) End of what was stated in the answer to the question.
What is mentioned in the book The Social System is adopted (mutabanna) because the book The Social System is adopted, as is known to every member of the Party. Likewise, what was mentioned in the answer to the question is also adopted because it is a clarification and explanation of the adoption. Every member of the Party must take this adopted opinion and leave the opinion they previously held or carried.
B- The subject of a menstruating woman reading the Quran was mentioned in our answer to a question published on the internet pages in our name, dated 01 Rabi’ al-Thani 1436 AH - 21/01/2015, which stated the following:
(A menstruating woman reading the Quran is a matter in which there are differing details among the jurists. Many jurists say it is prohibited, and some of them permit it with specific details and conditions...
What I consider most weighty is that it is not permissible for a menstruating woman to read the Quran, due to the saying of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
لَا تَقْرَأُ الْحَائِضُ وَلَا الْجُنُبُ شَيْئاً مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ
"A menstruating woman or a person in a state of major ritual impurity (junub) should not read anything from the Quran." (Narrated by At-Tirmidhi)
Although there is some discussion regarding this hadith, many jurists accept it. Moreover, a sahih (authentic) hadith has been narrated regarding the prohibition of reading the Quran for one in a state of janaba (major ritual impurity), and a menstruating woman is like one in janaba in this matter. Abu Dawood and An-Nasa'i narrated—and in a narration by Ibn Majah similar to it—from Ali (ra) who said:
كَانَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ يَخْرُجُ مِنَ الْخَلَاءِ فَيُقْرِئُنَا الْقُرْآنَ وَيَأْكُلُ مَعَنَا اللَّحْمَ، وَلَمْ يَحْجُبْهُ - أَوْ يَحْجُزْهُ - عن القُرآنِ شيءٌ ليسَ الجَنابَةَ
"The Prophet ﷺ would come out from the privy and recite the Quran to us and eat meat with us, and nothing would prevent him - or stay him - from the Quran except for major ritual impurity (janaba)."
It is clear from the hadith that janaba prevents the reading of the Quran; i.e., it is prohibited for the one in janaba to read the Quran. A menstruating woman is like the one in janaba, so it is prohibited for her to read the Quran just as it is prohibited for the one in janaba to read the Quran.) End of the answer to the question.
The answers to questions issued by the Party are not adopted except in three cases: if they are signed in the name of the Party, if they are an answer from the Party related to an adoption as an explanation or interpretation of it and the like, or if the Party sends it to the regions to be distributed to the Party's youth (shabab)... as stated in the Administrative File – Adoptions.
It is clear that the answer to the question we issued regarding a menstruating woman reading the Quran does not fall under any of the three cases mentioned above. Therefore, this answer is not adopted, and it is not mandatory for the members of the Party to adopt it or act upon it, neither Islamically nor administratively. A member of the Party may remain on the opinion they used to follow and adopt in this matter.
So, the matter is easy and simple, not complicated. All there is to it is for the member to know if the opinion issued by the Party is adopted or not. If it is adopted, they adhere to it and leave every other opinion. If it is not adopted, they are not bound to adopt it or act upon it. The adopted matters are known and clarified to every member of the Party. Regarding the answers to questions, as we mentioned earlier, the answers to questions are not adopted except in the three cases referred to above.
Although the Party does not oblige its members to adopt what is issued by the Party that is not adopted, the Party prefers that its youth adhere to everything issued by the Party, because all of the Party's publications are made after study, scrutiny, and investigation, and great effort is expended before they are approved.
I hope the matter has become clear now and an end has been put to the confusion, idle talk, and waste of time that you mentioned in the question.
Your brother, Ata Bin Khalil Abu Al-Rashtah
18 Dhu al-Qi'dah 1440 AH Corresponding to 21/07/2019 CE
Link to the answer from the Ameer's page (may Allah protect him) on Facebook