Kissing the Thumbs and the Hila of Isqat

Question

(1) One who does not kiss the thumbs at the time of the adhan — is he a disbeliever or a Muslim? Is it permissible to call him a disbeliever or not? (2) In our country there is the following custom of isqat (a rite of ‘discharging’ the deceased’s missed prayers and fasts through alms): two seers (a unit of weight, ≈ 0.93 kg; about two kilograms in all) of wheat, on top of it one rupee and the Holy Qur’an; these three things together two or three men, among whom there is no poor person (miskin)

Answer

(1) Kissing the thumbs at the time of the adhan is not established by any marfu‘ hadith; hence to regard it as a sunna is wrong. It is, however, related from some of the salaf as a remedy for inflammation of the eyes. So for abandoning it there is no ruling of disbelief — not even [a ruling of] abandoning a mustahabb. To call any Muslim a disbeliever without a legal (shar‘i)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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