New Ulama Council in Saudi Arabia to include Scholars from 4 School of Thoughts

Link: Ulama Council restructuring lauded from Saudi Gazette

Although it is last year’s news, but I still thought I should bring this important news forward one more time. Important highlights from this news article:


- King Abdullah restructured the Ulama council body to “eliminate loopholes and the issuing of fatwas (religious edicts) by unauthorized people.”

- Appointment of scholars from different schools of thought to be a substantial step that will lead to jurisprudential advancement to meet the growing needs of society.

- Council involves scholars of different ages and specializations who will enrich our work through their knowledge and experience in the field.

- Appointment of members to include the Ulama mastering the four main schools of thought in Islam (Hanbali, Maliki, Hanafi and Shafi’i), saying it will give the council ample options in the interest of the Islamic Ummah based on the Holy Qur’an and Prophet’s Traditions (Hadith)

- Dr. Bin Saleh Al-Sadlan, Professor of Postgraduate Studies at Imam Muhammed Islamic University in Riyadh, says the appointment of members from the four schools will enable them to base their ruling on all the four schools of thought instead of deriving it from one school

Excellent initiative and may Allah SWT bless all Ulama with long life so that the Ummah can benefit from them.

No More Guessing for Iqama Issues

For all the expats living here in KSA, as it is in other countries other than their own respective motherlands, one important thing to worry about is Iqama (Expat I-Card) related issues. It is in the best interest of any individual here to keep himself informed about anything to do with Iqama.


KSA government too wants its citizens as well as expats living here to know/have enough knowledge about it. Hence Ministry of Interior portal (http://www.moi.gov.sa/wps/portal) was created few years back in the hope that it will make life easy. While a large size of the population is taking advantage of this, many are still unaware of this portal. My intention is to introduce this website to my readers on this blog.

Fig 01: MOI Homepage

Ministry of Interior Info:

Address : PO Box 2933, Riyadh 11134
City : Riyadh
Phone: 966 3 4011944
Fax: 966 3 4031185
Website: http://www.moi.gov.sa/


As far as Expats are concerned, this portal is one stop shop with all the necessary information:


Dedicated Services Links:

The section Iqama System Violations & Penalties gives you the details how much is the fine for various instances to Iqama related violations.

Section for Traffic Violations & Penalties gives the details about traffic violations

Section to download form and procedures for Saudis and non-Saudis, one can click here Forms & Procedures E-Guide

Other useful help by steps:


Below here are simple steps to check if your Iqama is valid or not and is registered as well and also to see if it is updated with the Maktab Al-Zawazat - مكتب الجوازات (Passport Office).

From the main Portal homepage,

1. Click the E-Services Tab on tabs menu

Fig 2 – E-Services Tab

2. Select and click the "Passports" 

Fig 3 – Passport Section in E-Services

3. Select and click "Query Residence Permit Status" to open the page

Fig 4 – Iqama/Permit Status under Passports

4. Type your Iqama number in the blank space of "Iqama Number"

Fig 5 – Submit Iqama Number

5. Click on "View" and there you go...result will appear.

Fig 6 – Resulting screen

I hope this will be helpful to somebody

Ma'Assalama

Less Working Hours, Penalties for Delayed Salary Payments in Saudi Arabia

This is indeed good news. May Allah SWT help all those who are suffering by some ill-natured people who are misusing the system to their advantage. Please read on and also you can click on the link below:

Link: No labor law discrimination between Saudis, expats

Highlights of this article:


- Ministry of Labor has said that it is working hard to protect the rights of workers without any discrimination on the basis of nationality

- Ministry of Labor says Ministry is making all efforts to implement labor laws protecting Saudi nationals and expatriates alike.

- The ministry said that it is leaving no stone unturned to realize the vision of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to protect human rights and to check human trafficking, which, it added, is in contrast to the legislation, values and genuine principles of the Kingdom derived from the Shariah.

- Ministry admitted that such violations (employee abuse) do occur on the part of both employers and workers.

- Ministry has already reduced the working hours of people involved in the chemical, construction, paper, leather, textiles and timber industries to seven hours a day.

- Ministry will oversee and guarantees workers’ rights, is a ministerial decision, which punishes any establishment or organization that delays payment of salaries to workers. Article 1 of the decision calls for a ban on those establishments which delay the payment of workers’ salaries for two months from recruiting workers for one year. Furthermore, the penalties increase with the duration of the period of non-payment of salary.

- Ministry says that a Royal decree is already in place to check human trafficking. The law punishes those who commit human trafficking with a maximum of 15 years in prison or a fine of SR1 million or both.

What is required to drive car out of KSA?

If you have a rental car, or a company car or your own car (still on installment plan i.e. meaning you have not yet completed paying off the car payments), and you’re planning to drive out of KSA, then these steps are necessary to avoid any problem. A snapshot of the required documents on how they look like is also given here. These documents will vary from company to company and city to city. So just for you, an exclusive blog that brings all the info at one place.

1) A copy of the car registration card (called Istimara – إستمارة)

2) Copy of Insurance card (called Tamien – التأمين)

If it a new car, this card should be provided to you from the car dealer (showroom). If this a rental car, you will need to pay additional to buy insurance and they will provide you a piece of paper. If this car given to you by your company/contracting company, they will provide you with insurance papers.

* Remember that it is necessary to carry insurance paper with you all the time when you're driving or else you are subjected to traffic fines.

3) A “Letter of Delegated Rights” from the car showroom/company/contracting company will be needed– called Tafweez Qiyadat Sayyara Khariji (تفويض قيادتة سيارة خارجي) and this letter needs to be stamped by Chamber of Commerce (25 SAR)

4) Original copy of the document “Delegation of driving a vehicle (inside and outside the Kingdom)“ from the Traffic department (إدارة المرور - Idaratul Muroor) – called Tafweez Qiyadat Markabat (Daakhil wa Kharij Al-Mamlikat) - (تفويض قيادة مرك (داخل وخارج المملكة

      a) The officer at Muroor will take the original letter that you got from car showroom.
      b) He will give you back the Insurance and the registration card back to you.

Have a happy travelling with your car outside of Kingdom.

Masah Permissible on SealSkinz socks

Interesting as it gets, Allah SWT is showing us that He is benevolent and Merciful. While it looked hard to digest that Masah is not allowed on regular socks, help from Allah SWT has come down to those who did Sabr (patience) and did not criticize our Ulama.

Please read the following Q&A which comes from issue #40 of the newsletter "Al Mahmood" which comes from Darul Iftaa-Madrassah Inaamiyyah, camperdown, South Africa. May Allah SWT give our Ulama long life and good health.

Question -> Recently a new sock called SealSkinz has come into the market. These socks are essentially made for  those involved in outdoor activities such as hunting, mountain climbing, etc., and therefore they are quite strong. Furthermore, these socks are totally waterproof. Is it permissible to make masah on such socks during wudhu?

Answer -> In order for it to be permissible to wipe on nonleather socks, it is imperative that the sock fulfils all the conditions of leather socks. After thoroughly studying the inherent qualities of leather socks, our illustrious Fuqaha ruled that non-leather socks should resemble leather socks in the following:

1. They should entirely cover both the ankles.
2. They should be durable enough that a person can travel and walk with the sock for three miles without them tearing.
3. Both socks should independently be free from holes to the extent of three small toes.
4. The socks should remain on the leg without it being tied or fastened.
5. They should be such that water does not seep through them.

(Noor al Idha (1/47, Yasir Nadeem), Hashiyyah at-Tahtawi ala Durr il mukhtaar (1/137, Al Maktabah al Arabiyyah, Tawaali al anwaar Q 294/Alif, Makhtoot: Al Maktabah al-Azhar)

We have personally examined ‘SealSkinz’ socks and are satisfied that they fulfill all the above-mentioned
conditions. One can refer to their website to see the full durability of these socks. Hence, it is permissible to use ‘SealSkinz’ socks as leather socks and make masah on them.

- Mufti Ebrahim Desai

====================================

SealSkinz website: http://www.sealskinz.com/

Their claim: SealSkinz® are suitable for cycling, walking, climbing, golfing, riding, canoeing, motorcycling, sailing, fell running, orienteering, gardening, fishing, rowing, caving, backpacking, mountaineering ... and 100% waterproof.


May Allah SWT give us the right understanding of our Deen.

Survival Arabic – Part 1

Here I’m starting a series of article on surviving with that much of Arabic speaking where it will get your necessary work done in your daily life activities. Of course this is collected from my daily learning process. I’m going to present this in a tabular form. The first column presents the English word or the sentence, second column the Arabic writing (which might not be up to the standard of well written Arabic but I’ll try my best) and the third column in the transliteration (Roman Language for Indians and Pakistanis) of the same Arabic word or sentence from the second column. I will also try to put in some proper pronunciation help.

Some words/sentences that can be used at a Grocery store (بقالة -> Baqala) or in any store:

This is not a challenge for South Asian people as 90% chances that you will be dealing with an Indian, Pakistani and/or a Bangladeshi person at the counter. This will help you in places like Makkah and Madinah and some bigger departmental stores (Like Panda, CenterPoint, etc) where a quite a number of Arabs work.

English Word or Sentence	Arabic Word or Sentence	Transliteration (Roman Language)
How much?	كم؟	Kam?
How much is this?	كم هو هذا؟	Kam haza?
How are you my friend?	كيف حالك يا صديقي؟	Kaifa Halak Ya Sadeeq?
How much is the book?	كم هو الكتاب؟	Kam Hua Al-Kitaab?*
How much is the milk?	كم هو الحليب؟	Kam Hua Al-Haleeb?
How much is the weight?	كم هو وزنك؟	Kam Waznak?
Is this new? Is this fresh?	هذا هو الجديد؟	Haza Jadeed?
This is so cheap!	هذا هو رخيص	Haza Raqeesa

*I mentioned ‘Hua’ in some sentences “Kam Hua Al-Kitaab?”, it is not all that necessary to say it when speaking.

I will keep adding some more conversational Arabic from time to time.

- Touseefuddin Syed

About Saudi Arabia

Facts:


   - Largest country in the Middle East
   - Was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and hence named Saudi Arabia
   - Current capital of Saudi Arabia is Ar-Riyadh
   - Current King of Saudi Arabia is King Abdullah and first Crown Prince Sultan
   - Largest oil producing country in the world with 40% supply with largest hydrocarbon reserves
   - Population: 28,686,633 as of 19/01/2010
   - Area: 2,149,690 Sq. Km with mostly uninhabited desert area
   - State Language is Arabic
   - Currency is called Saudi Arabian Riyal (SAR). Monetary unit: 1 Riyal = 100 halalah
   - Saudi Arabia is the fastest growing economy in the Middle East and was recently ranked 13th out of
     183 countries for "Ease of Doing Business" according to the World Bank
   - Main exports: Oil, gas, cereals
   - Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam, Dhahran, Khobar are some of bigger and more famous

     cities with large expatriates population
Expatriates population is about eight million from countries all around the world (including non-Muslims):

                                                                     

Nationalities	Approximate Population Size
Indian	1.4 million
Bangladeshi	1 million
Filipino	950,000
Pakistani	900,000
Pakistani	900,000
Egyptian	900,000
Yemeni	800,000
Indonesian	500,000
Sri Lankan	350,000
Sudanese	250,000
Syrian	100,000
Turkish	80,000
US, UK, Other Westerner	100,000

Telecommunication Information:

   - Internet domain: .sa
   - International dialing code: +966
   - Largest telecom company: Saudi Telecom Company → http://www.stc.com.sa/cws/portal/en/
   - 2nd Largest telecom company: Mobily Telecom → http://www.mobily.com.sa/
   - Newest telecom company and also fastest growing: Zain telecom → http://www.zain.com/

Major Airlines that serve domestic and international travel need:

   - Air Arabia → http://www.airarabia.com/index.php
   - Al-Khayala Airlines → http://www.kayala.com/  (this website is under construction) ,
   - British Airways → http://www.britishairways.com/
   - Emirates Airlines → http://www.emirates.com/
   - Etihad Airways → http://www.etihadairways.com/
   - Gulf Air → http://www.gulfair.com/English
   - KLM Royal Dutch Airlines → http://www.klm.com/
   - Nas Airlines → http://www.flynas.com/en
   - Qatar Airways → http://www.qatarairways.com/
   - Sama Airlines → http://www.flysama.com/Sama/English/
   - Saudi Arabian Airlines → http://www.saudiairlines.com/

Banks that serve the banking needs:

   - Al Rajhi Bank → http://www.alrajhibank.com.my/
   - Arab National Bank (Alwatani) → http://www.anb.com.sa/
   - Bank Al Bilad → http://www.bankalbilad.com.sa/en/
   - Bank Al Jazira → http://www.baj.com.sa/default.asp?lng=eng
   - Banque Saudi Fransi Bank (Alfaransi) → http://www.alfransi.com/
   - National Commercial Bank (Alahli)→ http://www.alahli.com/en-US/Pages/NCBHomePage.aspx
   - Riyadh Bank → http://www.riyadbank.com/index_en.html
   - Samba Bank → http://www.samba.com/english/index_01_01_en.html
   - Saudi British Bank (SABB) → http://www.sabb.com/home/home_en.shtml
   - Saudi Hollandi Bank → http://www.shb.com.sa/vEnglish/default.asp
   - Saudi Investment Bank → http://www.saib.com.sa/english/home.aspx

Government Offices:

   - Ministry of Foreign Affairs → http://www.mofa.gov.sa/
   - Ministry of Labor & Social Affairs → http://www.mol.gov.sa/
   - Ministry of Civil Services → http://www.mcs.gov.sa/
   - Ministry of Education → http://www.moe.gov.sa/
   - Ministry of Higher Education → http://web.mohe.gov.sa/
   - Ministry of Information → http://www.saudinf.com/
   - Ministry of Petroleum & Mineral Resources → http://www.mopm.gov.sa/

Universities and Educational Centers:

   - King Abdullah University → http://kaust.edu.sa/
   - King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals → http://www.kfupm.edu.sa/
   - King Faisal University → http://www.kfu.edu.sa/
   - King Saud University → http://www.ksu.edu.sa/
   - Arab Open University → http://www.arabou.org/
   - Institute of Public Administration → http://www.ipa.edu.sa/
   - King Abdulaziz University → http://www.kau.edu.sa/
   - Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University → http://www.pmu.edu.sa/
   - Umm Al-Qura University → http://www.uqu.edu.sa/

Major Newspapers and Publications:

   - Asharq Al-Awsat Newspaper → http://www.asharqalawsat.com/
   - Alyaum Newspaper → http://www.alyaum.com/
   - Al Hayat Newspaper → http://www.alhayat.com/
   - Al-Jazirah Newspaper → http://www.al-jazirah.com/
   - Alriayadh Newspaper → http://www.alriyadh.com/
   - Alwatan Newspaper → http://alwatan.com.sa/
   - Arab News Newspaper → http://www.arabnews.com/

References:
Of course www.google.com
http://www.saudiembassy.net/,
http://www.wikipedia.org/
http://www.geohive.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.aramco.com/