Fatwa ID: 06680

Answered by: Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Question:

When the jurist puts the condition of ومن قصده التعيش لا الارتحال with regards to a person who moved to another country. Do any Hanafi jurists ever specify that it should be an intention forever or is it long-term? i.e. any amount of time over 15 days with the condition of livelihood (permanent place to stay, daily needs, bills in his name etc.

And what about a person who moved to a certain country with the intention of establishing a business and once it’s fully operational to return to his home country where he still has his original house and belongings? Living in the country where his business is, he has his permanent residency and lives with his entire family. However, when he decides to return, most of his family members will remain to operate the business.

For that person, who moved to that town with a niyat of not staying forever, and ends up staying for a few decades knowing that it takes that much time to establish this business, would it be permissible to keep it as a Musafir, and consider the town as watn Iqamah and not considering it a second watn asli?

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Answer:

The condition you refer to is used to describe Watn Asli. There is no specific time frame for this condition. Instead, it refers to a person intending to make a place his permanent residence and not leave it as his permanent place of residence.

In the scenario you described, the person moved to the other country to establish a business and then return to his original home country. He did not make the country where the business operates his actual permanent residence, in which he would remain and not permanently leave. Therefore, his place of residence in the country of business would be his Watn Iqaamah(Badai Al Sanai, Vol 1, Pg 338-339).

وطن اصلي : و هو وطن الانسان في بلده او بلدة اخري اتخذها دار و توطن بها مع اهله و ولده و ليس من قصده الارتحل عنها بل التعيّش فيها

و وطن الإقامة : و هو ان يقصد الانسان ان يمكث في موضع صالح للاقامة خمسة عشر يوما او اكثر

Only Allah knows best.

Written by Alimah Zakiratul Hoque

Checked and approved by Mufti Mohammed Tosir Miah

Darul Ifta Birmingham