1) Insha-Allah, within the next two weeks my wife and I will be moving out of my in-law’s house and into a flat we intend to rent. It is common practice amongs my family to hold an “arwaagh” when a new couple move into thier first house. (a)Does this practice have any basis in Islam, and if not should i avoid it and risk angering my family? (b) what is the Sunnah way of moving into a new home for the first time?
2) A learned friend of mine said that some Ulema is of the oppinion that it is not sinfull to with-hold some of your income information from SARS so as to pay less tax, because a lot of your taxes are inapropriately used (for private gain). (a)Is this the case? (b)If so, will this not cause the love of money to enter the heart?
3) Is coppying software and cd’s which are coppyrighted a major sin (tantamount to stealing)? I coppies a few Islamic Nazms and Duroods from an orriginal cd for my mother to use. Should I destroy the coppy or my original as i di not want to take my mother’s copy away (i can’t substitute her coppy with my cd as for some reason my orriginal will not work on her cd machine).
Jazakallah.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Assalaamu `alaykum waRahmatullahi Wabarakatoh
1. There is particularly no such basis for such a practice in Islam. You should definitely avoid this despite the “rise of angering your family”. You rather risk the anger of the family than the wrath of Allah. There is no sunnah method of moving into a new home. You may perform 2 rakat of Salat Hajat and make dua for Aafiyat and then move in.
2. Withholding tax is illegal obviously. We cannot ask you to do something against the law of the land. Yes, you may decrease the burden of tax through the loopholes offered in the law or by consulting your tax expert.
3. Registered Softwares and CDs is a recognized right in Shariah. It is not permissible to infringe on some one’s right.
And Allah knows best
Wassalam
Mufti M. Kadwa
Darul Iftaa, Madrassah In’aamiyyah