Attending the festivals of the mushrikeen and congratulating them

 

Is it permissible to attend the celebrations of Christian festivals and congratulate them?

Praise be to Allaah.
 

 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: it is not
permissible for the Muslims to attend the festivals of the mushrikeen,
according to the consensus of the scholars whose words carry weight. The
fuqaha’ who follow the four schools of thought have stated this clearly in
their books… Al-Bayhaqi narrated with a saheeh isnaad from ‘Umar ibn
al-Khattaab that he said: “Do not enter upon the mushrikeen in their
churches on the day of their festival, for divine wrath is descending upon
them.” And ‘Umar also said: “Avoid the enemies of Allaah on their
festivals.” Al-Bayhaqi narrated with a jayyid isnaad from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn
‘Amr that he said: “Whoever settles in the land of the non-Arabs and
celebrates their new year and festival and imitates them until he dies in
that state, will be gathered with them on the Day of Resurrection.” (Ahkaam
Ahl al-Dhimmah, 1/723-724). 

With regard to congratulating them on their festivals, this has already been answered in Question no. 947, which we advise you to refer to.

He migrated to a Muslim country, then he realised that the education system is not good; can he go back to complete his studies?

 

My family and I lived in Canada for a long time before we came to know that migration (Hijrah) is obligatory. After we learned that, we migrated to a Muslim country, but we found that there is a great difference in the educational standards and curriculum. My father paid a great deal of money to the school in which we registered, but we found that the standard of the education system here is very low. We attended for only three days, then we left, and we thought that study is a kind of playing about and a waste of money. Now, after seeing all this, we have decided to go back to Canada to complete our studies, then we will come back to the Muslim world. Is this permissible? Please note that in Canada we let our beards grow and the women wore niqab without any problems, and we used to attend Jumu‘ah and prayers in congregation, and we used to establish Zuhr prayer in the school and attend halaqahs (study circles) in the mosque, and call people to Allah with all freedom. What is your opinion?.

Praise be to Allaah.

The ruling on migrating from kaafir countries varies
according to a person’s situation, his ability to migrate and his ability
to practice his religion openly there. 

Hijrah is obligatory for one who is not able to practice his
religion openly and is able to migrate. 

But if a person is able to practice his religion openly, it
is mustahabb for him to migrate (Hijrah) but is not obligatory. If a person
is unable to migrate, he is excused by Allah, may He be exalted. 

Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

With regard to Hijrah, people fall into three categories: 

1.

Those for whom Hijrah is obligatory: this applies to the one
who is able to do it and is not able to practice his religion openly or
establish the obligatory duties of his religion if he stays among the
kuffaar. In this case, it is obligatory to migrate because Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily, as for those whom the angels take (in death)
while they are wronging themselves (as they stayed among the disbelievers
even though emigration was obligatory for them), they (angels) say (to
them): ‘In what (condition) were you?’ They reply: ‘We were weak and
oppressed on the earth.’ They (angels) say: ‘Was not the earth of Allaah
spacious enough for you to emigrate therein?’ Such men will find their abode
in Hell — what an evil destination!”

[al-Nisa’ 4:97].

This is a stern warning which indicates that it is
obligatory. Establishing the obligatory duties of Islam is obligatory for
the one who is able to do that, and Hijrah is necessary for fulfilment of
that obligation; whatever is essential to fulfilment of an obligation is
also obligatory. 

2.

Those for whom hijrah is not obligatory. This applies to the
one who is not able to do it, either because of sickness, or because he is
forced to stay, or because of weakness in the case of women, children and so
on. In this case Hijrah is not obligatory, because Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Except the weak ones among men, women and children who
cannot devise a plan, nor are they able to direct their way.

99. These are they whom Allaah is likely to forgive them,
and Allaah is Ever Oft-Pardoning, Oft-Forgiving”

[al-Nisa’ 4:98-99].

And it is not mustahabb for them, because it is not possible
for them. 

3.

Those for whom it is mustahabb but is not obligatory. This
applies to the one who is able to do it, but he is able to practice his
religion openly and establish it in the kaafir country. So it is mustahabb
for him, so that he would be able to engage in jihad against them, increase
the numbers of Muslims, and support them, and so that he can stop increasing
the numbers of kuffaar, mixing with them and seeing evil among them. But it
is not obligatory for him, because it is possible for him to establish the
obligatory duties of his religion without migrating. 

End quote from al-Mughni, 9/236 

Based on that, if you are able to practice your religion
openly as you say, then Hijrah is not obligatory for you, but moving to one
of the Muslim countries is better and more safe, so as to avoid increasing
the numbers of kuffaar, mixing with them and witnessing their evils, and so
as to move away from fitan (turmoils, temptations) and causes of deviation
which are prevalent in those societies, as well as for the sake of the
children who are born to the Muslims there, to save them from being lost and
going astray in Western societies. This applies in general, but a person may
be in a place in those countries where he lives among a Muslim majority and
is able to play his role in da‘wah, teaching and explaining Islam to others,
in which case it is better to him to stay and not migrate.

 So you should weigh up the pros and cons, and give priority
to preservation of religious commitment over other interests, for religious
commitment is the capital of the individual which must not be squandered. 

With regard to going back -- temporarily -- in order to
obtain a better education, we hope that there is nothing wrong with you
doing that, especially if it is an education that you need or there is some
benefit to the Muslims in it, but you should keep trying to find an
opportunity to settle permanently in a Muslim country. 

We ask Allah to guide and help us and you. 

And Allah knows best.

Should he donate money to a Buddhist temple in order to keep his job and protect himself from any harm?

 

I am working in a manufacturing company of a multi-national in Sri Lanka. There are about 300 workers here but only 2 muslims. I have the opportunity to pray five times and also to go to Jummah etc. The top management occationally organise many budhist cermons and some times plan to organise donations (small contribution from employees) to temple. This is a sinhala majority county. Pl advise what we should do or the intention we should have when making such payment occationally to keep peace and harmony at work place.

Praise be to Allaah.

It is not permissible to donate to a temple or church or
any place in which anyone or anything other than Allah is worshipped,
because that is helping in evil and in the greatest of evils. Allah says
(interpretation of the meaning): “Help you one
another in Al‑Birr and At‑Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do
not help one another in sin and transgression. And fear Allaah. Verily,
Allaah is Severe in punishment”

[al-Maa’idah 5:2] 

In these temples shirk and idolatry are practised, so how can
a Muslim think of donating to them? Can that be anything other than helping
and contributing to the support of shirk and those who believe in it? 

What you have to do is refuse to give these donations, even
if it means that you have to leave your job in this factory, because the
believer cannot sell his religion for worldly gain. Work is not one of the
things that make this great evil permissible, and the one who gives up
something for the sake of Allah, Allah will compensate him with something
better than it. 

For more information please see the answer to question no.
50173 

And Allah knows best.

Attending the funeral of a non-Muslim relative in the church

 

I am a new muslim and my parents and relatives are muslim. One of my relative has dies recently and i was very close to her. I like to know if i can attend her funeral in church? I wont say any words during prayer just sit there.

Praise be to Allaah.

Firstly: 

It is not permissible for a Muslim to attend the funeral of a
non-Muslim even if it is a relative, because attending a funeral is a right
that one Muslim has over another and it is a kind of showing respect, honour
and friendship that it is not permissible to show to a kaafir. 

Abu Taalib, the paternal uncle of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) died, and he instructed ‘Ali to bury him, but
the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) did not attend his
funeral or his burial, even though Abu Taalib’s support and defence of the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was well known, and even
though the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) felt a great
deal of compassion and mercy towards him. Nothing stopped him from doing
that except the fact that Abu Taalib died in a state of kufr. In fact the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “I shall certainly
pray for forgiveness for you so long as I am not forbidden to do so.” Then
the words were revealed (interpretation of the meaning): “It is not
(proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allaah’s forgiveness
for the Mushrikoon, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to
them that they are the dwellers of the Fire (because they died in a state of
disbelief)” [al-Tawbah 9:113] and: “Verily, you (O Muhammad) guide
not whom you like,” [al-Qasas 28:56]. 

Abu Dawood (3214) and al-Nasaa’i (2006) narrated that ‘Ali
said: I said to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): Your
paternal uncle, the misguided old man, has died. He said: “Go and bury your
father.” 

Although Islam promotes upholding ties of kinship and
treating relatives kindly, it forbids close friendship between the believer
and the disbeliever, so whatever is one of the forms of close friendship is
forbidden, but whatever is kindness that is less than close friendship is
permitted. 

Imam Maalik (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Muslim
should not wash his father if his father died as a disbeliever, or attend
his funeral, or go down into his grave, unless he fears that he may be
neglected, in which case he may bury him. End quote from al-Mudawwanah,
1/261 

It says in Sharh Muntaha al-Iraadaat (1/374): The
Muslim should not wash the kaafir because it is not allowed to form a strong
bond with the kuffaar, and because that implies respecting him and purifying
him; therefore it is not permissible, as is the case with offering the
funeral prayer for him: “Do not shroud him or pray for him or attend his
funeral,” because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Take not
as friends the people who incurred the Wrath of Allaah” [al-Mumtahanah
60:13]. 

It says in Fataawa al-Lajnah al-Daa’imah (9/10): What
is the ruling on attending the funerals of disbelievers which has become a
political custom and a tradition that all agreed upon? 

Answer: If there are some kuffaar present who can bury their
dead, then the Muslims should not bury them or join the kuffar or help them
with burying them, or seek to be kind to them by attending their funerals,
acting in accordance with political customs. Such matters are not known to
have been done by the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) or by the Rightly Guided Caliphs. Rather Allah forbade His
Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) to stand over the grave
of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salool, and the reason given was that he was a
disbeliever. Allah said (interpretation of the meaning): “And never (O
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) pray
(funeral prayer) for any of them (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his
grave. Certainly they disbelieved in Allaah and His Messenger, and died
while they were Faasiqoon (rebellious, — disobedient to Allaah and His
Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم)”
[al-Tawbah 9:84]. But if there are none of them present who could bury
him, then the Muslims should bury him as the Prophet (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) did with the slain of Badr and his paternal uncle Abu
Taalib when he died, and he said to ‘Ali: “Go and bury him.” 

Standing Committee for Academic Research and Issuing Fatwas

‘Abd-Allah ibn Qa‘ood, ‘Abd-Allah ibn Ghadyaan, ‘Abd
al-Razzaaq ‘Afeefi, ‘Abd al-‘Azeez ibn ‘Abd-Allah ibn Baaz. End quote. 

Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him)
issued a similar fatwa in Fataawa Noor ‘ala al-Darb. 

Secondly: 

Attending the funeral of a kaafir in the church is much more
serious than merely following the funeral procession, because this
attendance implies listening to kufr and falsehood. This is something that
is ignored by those who say that it is permissible to attend and stipulate
that one should not participate in the rituals that take place there. Just
sitting and watching and listening to kufr and falsehood is a wrong action
that one should not do. 

And Allah says (interpretation of the meaning):

“And it has already been revealed to you in the Book (this
Qur’aan) that when you hear the Verses of Allaah being denied and mocked at,
then sit not with them, until they engage in a talk other than that; (but if
you stayed with them) certainly in that case you would be like them. Surely,
Allaah will collect the hypocrites and disbelievers all together in Hell”

[Aal ‘Imraan 3:140]. 

Al-Jassaas said in Ahkaam al-Qur’aan (2/407): In this
verse there is evidence that it is obligatory to denounce the evildoer’s
action and that part of denouncing it is expressing disapproval, if it is
not possible to remove it, as well as leaving the gathering where it is
happening, until they stop doing that evil action. End quote. 

Thus it is clear that attending the funeral rituals in the
church is a great evil because of what it involves of listening to kufr and
being present at innovation, whilst keeping quiet about it, in addition to
the fact that attending the funeral is a sign of honour and friendship as
mentioned above. 

We ask Allah to help us and you to be steadfast and to guide
us and help us all. 

And Allah knows best.

Ruling on buying clothing and other items during kaafir festivals in order to benefit from discounts on prices during the Christmas season

 

In Australia during christmas there are huge discounts on things like clothing, furniture, electronics etc. is it permisible to shop to get this discount which is generally not available during other part of the year?.

Praise be to Allaah.

There is nothing wrong with buying clothing, furniture and
so on during the seasons of kaafir festivals such as Christmas, on
condition that one does not buy things that are used to celebrate the
festival or to imitate the kuffaar during their festivals. 

In the answer to question no.
69558 it was stated
that it is permissible for the Muslim to open his business during the days
of kaafir festivals, subject to two conditions: 

(i)               
that he does not sell them
things that they use for sinful purposes or to celebrate their festival

(ii)             
that he does not sell to
Muslims things that they may use to imitate the kuffaar during these
festivals. 

Buying items that one needs is much less serious than selling
or opening one's business, and the basic principle is that it is permissible
to buy things, and the fact that it happens at the time of their festival
does not matter. 

And Allah knows best.

Ruling on the Muslims celebrating at the time of Christmas and decorating their homes with balloons

 

What do you say to Muslims in the United Kingdom who celebrate at Christmas time by holding dinner parties in their houses on Christmas or afterwards, for their Muslim families, such as preparing roast turkey and the other dishes of the traditional Christmas dinner, and they adorn their houses with balloons and paper chains, and they do the “secret Santa” tradition, whereby each relative brings a gift for one of the people present and these gifts are brought to the party to be given to the one for whom he bought it, without the recipient knowing who he is. [“Secret Santa” is a new, growing custom among non-Muslims who celebrate Christmas, and is in accordance with their belief in the myth of Santa Claus].


Is this action regarded as halaal or haraam, if no one is attending this party except Muslims (relatives and family members)?.

Praise be to Allaah.

There is no doubt that what is mentioned of celebrations is
haraam, because it is an imitation of the kuffaar. It is well known that
the Muslims do not have any festival apart from Eid al-Fitr and Eid
al-Adha, and the weekly “Eid” which is Friday (Yawm al-Jumu‘ah).
Celebrating any other festival is not allowed and is either of two things:
either it is an innovation (bid‘ah), if it is celebrated as a means of
drawing close to Allah, such as celebrating the Prophet’s Birthday
(Mawlid); or it is an imitation of the kuffaar, if it is celebrated as a
tradition and not as an act of worship, because introducing innovated
festivals is the action of the people of the Book who we are commanded to
differ from. So how about if it is a celebration of one of their actual
festivals? 

Decorating the house with balloons at this time is obviously
joining in with the kuffaar and celebrating their festival. 

What the Muslim is required to do is not to single out these
days for any kind of celebration, decorating or adornment, or special foods,
otherwise he will be joining the kuffaar in their festivals, which is
something that is undoubtedly haraam. 

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Similarly it is forbidden for the Muslims to imitate the kuffaar by holding
parties on these occasions, or exchanging gifts, or distributing sweets or
other foods, or taking time off work and so on, because the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever imitates a people
is one of them.” Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said in his book Iqtida’
al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem Mukhaalifat Ashaab al-Jaheem: Imitating them on
some of their festivals implies that one is happy with the falsehood they
are following, and that could make them (the non-Muslims) take this
opportunity to mislead those who are weak in faith. End quote. 

Those who do any of these things are sinning, whether they do
it to go along with them, or to be friendly towards them, or because they
feel too shy (to refuse to join in) or any other reason, because it is a
kind of compromising the religion of Allah to please others, and it is a
means of lifting the spirits of the kuffaar and making them proud of their
religion, 

End quote from Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen, 3/44 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
was asked about a Muslim who makes the food of the Christians on Nawrooz
(Persian New Year) and on all their occasions such as Epiphany and other
feast days, and who sells them things to help them celebrate their
festivals. Is it permissible for the Muslims to do any of these things or
not? 

He replied: Praise be to Allah. It is not permissible for the
Muslims to imitate them in any way that is unique to their festivals,
whether it be food, clothes, bathing, lighting fires or refraining from
usual work or worship, and so on. And it is not permissible to give a feast
or to exchange gifts or to sell things that help them to celebrate their
festivals, or to let children and others play the games that are played on
their festivals, or to adorn oneself or put up decorations. In general,
(Muslims) are not allowed to single out the festivals of the kuffaar for any
of these rituals or customs. Rather the day of their festivals is just an
ordinary day for the Muslims, and they should not single it out for any
activity that is part of what the kuffaar do on these days.

End quote from al-Fataawa al-Kubra, 2/487; Majmoo‘
al-Fataawa, 25/329 

See also question no.
13642 

And Allaah knows best.

Why do people die of hunger if their provision has been decreed by Allaah?

 

If Allah has ordained the
"rizk" for everyone then why do people die of starvation.

Praise be to Allaah.

Allaah is al-Razzaaq (the Provider) and the
best of those who give provision. “And no moving (living) creature is there on
earth but its provision is due from Allaah” [Hood 11:6 – interpretation of the
meaning]. The rizq (provision) of Allaah will not be brought by the carefulness of the
miser, nor will it be prevented by the hostility of one who does not want it to come to
another. It is part of the Wisdom of Allaah that He differentiates between His slaves in
their provision just as He differentiates between them in their physical creation and
their attitudes. So He gives in abundance to whomever He wills and gives little to
whomever He wills. He may give plenty to some people and little to others. He is the One
Who guarantees the provision of His slaves according to His prior knowledge and decree.
Allaah knows and decrees that some of His slaves will be given plenty and some will be
given little; He has reasons for that that are beyond our comprehension. In His wisdom, He
gives plenty or gives little as a test for His slaves, testing them with blessings or with
calamities, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):

“and We shall make a trial of you with evil and with
good” [al-Anbiya’ 21:35]

Allâh says (interpretation of the meaning):

“But when He tries him be straitening his means of
life, he says: ‘My Lord has humiliated me!” [al-Fajr 89:16]

But then Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Nay!”
[al-Fajr 89:16], meaning, it is not as he thinks; Allaah blesses whoever he wills and
makes things difficult for whomever He wills, and this is a test, not a sign of honour or
humiliation. By means of this test, it becomes apparent who is grateful and patient, and
who is the opposite. And Allaah is the Knower of all things.