Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Fifth Fascicle

circulating x the number of dawrs. This applied to the example we
have given:
48x60=4x5x144=4x10x72=4x20x36=10x10x29
As is seen, for determining the number of the dawrs (to be
done) for the isqât of salât, the number of the gold coins (required)
for one year will be multiplied by the number of the years of debt
of salât. Then the number of the gold coins circulating will be
multiplied by the number of the poor individuals. The result of the
first multiplication will be divided by the second. The result of the
division will indicate the number of dawrs. Wheat’s and gold’s
equivalent in paper money vary at approximately the same rate in
course of time. In other words, the value of gold and the value of
wheat always go up and down correspondingly. For this reason, as
the amount of wheat for a year’s isqât does not change, so the
number of gold coins for one year’s isqât, i.e. sixty gold coins, as we
have calculated in accordance to the Hanafî Madhhab, remains
almost the same, when it is kept in tandem with the world’s market
prices and no abrupt rises take place. Therefore, in the calculation
of isqât the circumspectly accepted formula is, except for some
extraordinary situations:
Five gold coins for the isqât of a month’s salât.
One gold coin for the isqât of a month’s fasting in Ramadân.
The number of gold coins to be circulated and the number of
circulations will be calculated accordingly.
If no gold coins are available, the guardian borrows some gold
articles such as bracelets or rings from a woman he knows.
Weighing these, he puts an amount equal to the (number of years
during which the deceased person omitted his prayers of namâz x
7.2 grams) in a handkerchief. The handkerchief now contains as
many gold coins as the number of years during which the dead
person omitted his namâz. When number sixty is divided by the
number of the poor Muslims taking part in the dawr, the result
shows the number of dawrs (circulations) to be performed. If
sufficient amount of gold pieces is not available, half the amount
in the former case is weighed. In this case the number of dawrs will
be twice the number that would be performed in the former case.
According to our example, six dawrs will be performed with ten
poor people if we have 48x7.2=350 grams of gold, and the number
of dawrs will be thirty if the amount of gold possessed weighs 70
grams. When the process of dawr is over, the poor Muslim
occupying the final position gives the gold as a gift to the guardian,
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