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Dangers in the HomeWritten by: by Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid :: (View All Articles by: Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid) |
In the
Name of Allaah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Praise be to
Allaah. We praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with
Allaah from the evil of our own selves and from our evil deeds. Whomsoever
Allaah guides cannot be led astray, and whomsoever Allaah leaves astray cannot
be guided. I bear witness that there is no god but Allaah Alone, with no partner
or associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.
Putting
things right in the home is a great trust and huge responsibility which every
Muslim man and woman should undertake as Allaah commands; they should run the
affairs of their homes in accordance with the rules set out by Allaah. One of
the ways of achieving this is by ridding the home of evil things. The following
aims to highlight some evil things that actually happen in some homes and that
have become tools of destruction for the nests in which the future generations
of the Muslim ummah are being raised.
This brief
paper highlights some of these evil things, explaining about some haraam things
in order to warn about them. It is a gift to every seeker of truth who is
looking for methods of change, so that he or she can implement the command of
the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “Whoever of you sees an evil
action, let him change it with his hand [by taking action], and if he cannot,
then with his tongue [by speaking out], and if he cannot, then with his heart
[by feeling that it is wrong] – and that is the weakest of faith.”
(Reported by Muslim in his
Saheeh, 1/69).
This
discussion expands upon some forbidden or evil matters that have already been
mentioned in brief in my book
The Muslim Home – 40
Recommendations.
I ask
Allaah, the Most Generous, Lord of the Mighty Throne, to benefit my Muslim
brothers through this book and the previous book. Allaah is the Guide to the
Straight Path.
Evil things
in the Home
Advice:
Beware of
allowing non-mahram relatives to enter upon the wife in the home when the
husband is absent. Some homes are not free of the presence of relatives of the
husband who are not mahram for the wife, who may be living in his home with him
because of some social circumstances, such as his brothers who may be students
or single. These relatives enter the home without anyone raising an eyebrow,
because they are known in the neighbourhood as being relatives of the head of
the household, his brothers or nephews or uncles. This relaxed attitude could
generate a lot of evil which will earn the wrath of Allaah if it is not
controlled and brought within the limits set by Allaah. The basic principle in
this matter is the hadeeth of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Beware of entering upon women.” A
man from among the Ansaar said, “O Messenger of Allaah, what do you think about
the brother-in-law?” He said, “The brother-in-law is death!”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari,
Fath al-Baari, 9/330).
Al-Nawawi
(may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “What is referred to in this hadeeth is the
husband’s relatives apart from his father and his sons, because those are
mahrams for his wife and can be alone with her, so they are not described as
death. What is referred to here is his brother, nephew, uncle and cousin, and
others who she would be permitted to marry if she were not already married.
Usually people take the matter lightly with regard to these relatives, so a
brother may be alone with his brother’s wife. Thus he is likened to death, when
he should be prevented from being alone with her more than a stranger should.”
(Fath
al-Baari, 9/331).
The phrase “the brother-in-law is death” has a number of meanings, such as:
That being
alone with the brother-in-law may lead to spiritual destruction if she commits
sin;
Or it may
lead to death if she commits the immoral act (zina or adultery) and the
punishment of stoning is carried out on her;
Or it may
lead to the woman being destroyed if her husband leaves her because his jealousy
leads him to divorce her;
Or it may
mean, beware of being alone with a non-mahram woman just as you would beware of
death;
Or it may
mean that being alone with a non-mahram woman is as bad as death.
It was said
that it means, let the brother-in-law die rather than be alone with a non-mahram
woman,
All of this
stems from the concern of Islam to preserve families and households, and to
prevent the tools of destruction reaching them in the first place. Having
learned what the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, what do you think now of those
husbands who tell their wives, “If my brother comes and I am not here, let him
into the sitting room”, or a wife who tells a guest, “Go into the sitting room”
when there is no one else present in the house?
To those
who raise the issue of trust as an excuse, saying “I trust my wife, and I trust
my brother, or my cousin”, we say: your trust is all well and good, and you
should not be suspicious when you have no cause to do so, but you should know
that the hadeeth of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “No man is alone with a non-mahram
woman, but the Shaytaan is the third one present with them”
(reported by al-Tirmidhi, 1171)
includes the most pious of people as well as the most corrupt. Islam does not
exempt anyone from such rulings.
Addition:
Whilst writing these few lines, we heard about a problematic situation in which, to cut a long story short, a man married a woman and brought her to live in his family home, where she lived happily with him. Then his younger brother began to enter upon her when her husband was absent, and talk to her in a romantic manner, which resulted in two things: firstly, she began to dislike her husband intensely, and secondly, she fell in love with his brother. But she was not able to divorce her husband, nor was she able to do what she wanted with the other man. This is the grievous penalty. This story illustrates one level of corruption, beyond which there are many more which culminate in the immoral action (zinaa/adultery) and the birth of illegitimate children.
Advice:
Segregating
men and women in family visits.
Man is
naturally gregarious and sociable; he needs friends and friendships entail
visiting one another.
When there
are visits between families, we should block the path of evil by not mixing. One
of the indications that mixing is haraam is the aayah (interpretation of the
meaning):
“… And when you ask his wives) for anything you want, ask them from behind a screen, that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts…” [al-Ahzaab 33:53]
If we were
to look for the evil results of mixing during family visits, we would find many
objectionable things, such as:
1.
In most
cases the hijab of women in these mixed gatherings is non-existent or is not
proper, so a woman may display her beauty before someone in front of whom it is
not permissible for her to uncover herself. Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning): “And tell the believing women… not
to reveal their adornment…” [al-Noor 24:31]. It may happen that a
woman adorns herself for strangers in a mixed gathering in a way that she never
does for her husband.
2.
When
men see women in one gathering, this is a cause of corruption in the religion
and morals, and provokes desires in a forbidden manner.
3.
The
spouses may argue and ignore one another in an alarming fashion, when one looks
at or winks at another man's wife, or laughs and jokes with her, and she with
him. After a couple returns home, the settling of scores begins:
Man: Why did
you laugh at what so and so said, when he did not say anything funny?
Woman: And
why did you wink at so and so?
Man: When he
spoke, you understood him quickly, but you do not understand what I say at all!
Thus they
trade accusations and the matter ends in enmity and even divorce.
4.
Some
men and woman may regret their luck in marriage, when a man compares his wife to
his friend’s wife, or a woman compares her husband to her friend’s husband. A
man may say to himself: “So and so talks and answers questions… she is
well-educated and my wife is ignorant, she has no education…” and a woman may
say to herself, “So and so is so lucky! Her husband is smart and eloquent, and
my husband is so boring and speaks without thinking.” This spoils the marital
relationship or leads to bad treatment.
5.
Some
people may show off to one another by pretending to have things that they don’t
really have. So a man may issue instructions to his wife in front of other men
and pretend that he has a strong personality, but when he is alone with her at
home he is like a tame pussycat. A woman may borrow gold and wear it so that the
other people may see that she has such and such. But the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The one who shows off with
something that does not belong to him is like one who wears a garment of
falsehood.” (Reported
by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath, 9/317)
6.
These
late-night mixed gatherings result in wasted time, sins of the tongue, and
leaving small children home alone (so that they do not disturb the evening with
their cries!)
7.
These
late-night mixed gatherings may even develop to the extent of involving many
kinds of major sins, such as drinking wine and gambling, especially among the
so-called “upper classes”. One of the major sins that occur during these
gatherings is following the kuffaar and imitating them in fashions and various
customs. The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Whoever imitates a people is
one of them.”
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad in al-Musnad,
2/50; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 2828,
6025).
Advice:
Beware of
the dangers of having (male) drivers and (female) servants in the home.
Striving to
ward off evil is a religious duty, and closing the doors of evil and fitnah
(temptation) is one of the priorities of sharee’ah. A lot of fitnah and sin has
come to us through servants and drivers, but many people do not pay attention to
this, and if they do notice it, they do not take it seriously. A person may be
stung repeatedly from the same place, but he does not feel the pain, or he may
hear of a disaster that happened near his own home, but he does not learn from
it. This stems from weak faith and the failure to feel that Allaah is near,
failings that affect the hearts of many people in the modern age. We will
briefly explain the bad effects of having servants and drivers in the home, so
that it will be a reminder to the one who has the eyes to see or who wants to
follow the right path in his own home.
Having
female servants in the home presents men, especially young ones, with fitnah and
temptation, through their adornment and being alone with them. We hear so many
stories, one after another, of some youth being led astray, and the reason for
this is that the servant entered upon a young man, or a young man took advantage
of the fact that no one else was home and entered upon the servant. Some young
men have told their families frankly about what happened, and the families did
not respond; in other cases the family may have discovered something, but their
response was bereft of any sense of honour or jealousy.
“O Yoosuf! Turn away from this! (O woman!) Ask
forgiveness for your sin. Verily, you were of the sinful.” [Yoosuf 12:29 –
interpretation of the meaning]. So the fire remains close to the
fuel, and the situation is left as it is, with no changes being made. It has
also happened that servants have taught misbehaviour to the daughters of the
household.
-
The
lady of the house neglects her duties and forgets her responsibilities, and
becomes accustomed to being lazy, then when the servants travels things are very
hard indeed for her.
-
The
children receive a bad upbringing, represented by the following examples:
The
children learn the beliefs of kufr from kaafir servants, Christians and
Buddhists. There have been children who make the sign of the cross on their
heads and two sides of their chests, as they have seen a Christian woman doing
when she prays, and she tells them, “This is something sweet from Christ.” Or a
child may see a servant praying to a statue of Buddha, or another celebrating
her people’s festivals and conveying to our children her feelings of joy, so
they get used to taking part in festivals of kufr.
The
children are deprived of their mother’s love and care, which is an essential
part of their upbringing and psychological stability. A servant cannot make up
this lack for a child who is not hers.
The child’s
Arabic will be corrupted because it is mixed with foreign words, so he grows up
lacking something, which will have an adverse effect on his education in school.
Some heads
of households feel the financial strain of paying salaries for drivers and
servants. Then there are the family disputes that arise over who should pay
these salaries, especially in cases where the wife is employed. If the wife
would stay at home instead of working outside the home, she would spare herself
a lot of trouble. The fact of the matter is that in many cases we create trouble
for ourselves, then we demand a solution, and often the solution we come up with
is far from decisive.
Getting
used to having servants has created dependency and negative character traits.
Some women
may include having a servant as a condition in their marriage contract; others
may plan on bringing their family’s servant with them when they get married.
Thus our daughters have lost the ability to deal independently with anything in
the home, no matter how small it is.
-
When
women brought servants into their homes, they started to have a lot of free time
and did not know what to do with it. So some women began to sleep a lot, and
some are never home because they are always going to gatherings where they
gossip and backbite and waste their time. The result will be regret on the Day
of Resurrection.
-
Harm
comes to the members of the family in different ways, for example:
1-
Witchcraft and magic, which can cause the separation of husband and wife, or
cause physical harm.
2-
Harm to
the possessions of family members because of theft.
3-
Damage
to the family’s reputation. How many decent homes have been turned into dens of
immorality and corruption in the absence of their owners. You must surely have
heard of female servants who receive men when the homeowners are absent.
-
The
freedom of men (those who fear Allaah) within their own homes is restricted, as
is also the case for those who try to call their families to put things in
order.
-
Women
end up being alone with drivers who are strangers (non-mahrams) to them, in the
house or car, and women do not refrain from going out wearing adornments and
perfume in front of the drivers. They act as if he is one of their mahrams or
even closer, and because they go out with them so often and talk to them so
much, the psychological barrier is broken down and so forbidden things are done.
The frequency of such incidents in our society demonstrates to those who have
the eyes to see just how serious the matter is.
-
Bringing servants and drivers from all sorts of kaafir nations clearly goes
against the Prophet’s specific orders that kaafirs should not be allowed into
the Arabian Peninsula. There is absolutely no need to do this, as it is possible
to bring Muslims in if there is a need for workers. Added to this is the fact
that employing kaafirs strengthens the economies of kaafir nations, as the
employees transfer their salaries to their homelands, even though Muslims should
have priority in this matter. By mixing so much with these kaafirs, Muslims can
no longer see the difference, which gradually destroys the concept of al-walaa
wa’l-baraa’ (loyalty and allegiance vs. enmity and disavowal) in their minds.
Added to this is the ugly role played by some agency owners who have no fear of
Allaah, who will tell you that there are no Muslim employees. Or they may engage
in deceit and trickery, so that after a driver or servant who is described as a
Muslim in official papers has arrived, the head of the household discovers that
this is a lie, or the new employee may be playing a role that started in his
country of origin, where the agency taught him a few Islamic words so that he
can pose as a Muslim in front of the family that employs him.
-
Family
breakup resulting from the householder’s affair with a female servant. Look at
what really happens and think how many divorces have happened because of
servants, and how many servants have become pregnant with illegitimate children.
Then ask the
people working in hospital maternity departments, or find out about police
reports detailing the problems caused by illegitimate children born as a result
of the temptation posed by female servants. Then try to understand the extent of
the spread of venereal diseases which have been brought into our society because
of that. Now you will understand the vicious circle we are in because of
bringing female servants into our homes.
Think about
the misconceptions that these servants and drivers have about the Islamic
religion when they see the behaviour of those who claim to be Muslim. Ask
yourself, what kind of obstacles are we placing in front of them? How are we
preventing them from discovering the way of Allaah by what we do to them? How
could they possibly enter a religion when this is the state of those who claim
to belong to it?
Because of
these matters and others, some scholars think that it is not permissible to
bring female servants into the home in the manner in which this is done
nowadays, and that it is obligatory to put a stop to fitnah and close the door
to evil. (See the
fatwa of Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen on this issue).
In order to
comply with the command of Allaah (interpretation of the meaning),
“… and when you give your word, say the truth…”
[al-An’aam 6:152], we should point out the following:
Firstly: we do not deny the fact that some
servants and drivers are sincere Muslims, possibly more sincere than the members
of the household. We have heard of a servant who keeps a Mus-haf (copy of the
Qur’aan) on the shelf in the kitchen so that she can read it whenever she
finishes her work, and a driver who prays Fajr in the mosque before his employer
does.
Secondly: we
are not ignoring the real needs that people sometimes have for essential
reasons, such as needing the help of servants in a large house, or when a family
has a lot of children, or when someone is chronically ill or has disabilities,
or when there is hard work that the wife cannot do on her own. But what we
Muslims should ask is: who is applying Islamic conditions and taking care of
religious precautions when bringing servants and drivers into the home? How many
of those who bring drivers into the home (let’s get real!) can guarantee that
the driver will not be alone with one of his womenfolk, or that the man will not
be alone with a female servant? He should also tell the female servant to
observe hijaab, and he should not deliberately look at her adornment. If he
comes home and no one is there but the servant, he should not enter. He should
not accept any servants except those who are sincerely Muslim… and so on.
For this
reason, everyone who has one of these servants or drivers in his home should
make sure that this person is there for a legitimate need and that the Islamic
conditions are being properly fulfilled. The story of Yoosuf (upon whom be
peace) contains a lesson for us with regard to this matter. It clearly indicates
the fitnah that exists when there are servants and drivers in the house, and
that evil may be initiated by members of the household even though the servants
are people who fear Allaah. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And she, in whose house he was, sought to seduce
him (to do an evil act), she closed the doors and said: ‘Come on, O you.’ He
said, ‘I seek refue in Allaah (or Allaah forbid)!’…” [Yoosuf 12:23]
We suggest
to those who complain that things are too difficult in their homes without
servants that they could do the following:
-
Buy
ready-made food from the market; use paper plates; use laundry services; have
the house cleaned by workers who are supervised by the man; ask relatives to
help care for the children when necessary, such as when the wife is recovering
from childbirth.
-
If that
is not enough, they could seek the help of a temporary servant, under proper
Islamic conditions, and when there is no longer any need she may be dismissed.
There are, however, risks attached to this solution.
-
It is
better if the servant is paid hourly, so that she can do her job then leave the
house. Whatever the case, things should be done only as they are needed.
-
We have
discussed this matter at length because the problem is so widespread in our
society. It may be different in other countries. Before closing this discussion
we should mention some matters that have to do with taqwa or fear of Allaah:
1-
Everyone who has sources of fitnah in his home, whether from servants or from
anything else, should fear Allaah and remove them from his home.
2-
Everyone who thinks that he is going to impose Islamic conditions when bringing
a servant to his home should fear Allaah and realize that many of these
conditions will become less stringent as time goes by.
3-
Everyone who has a kaafir servant in the Arabian Peninsula should present Islam
to him or her in the best possible way. If he or she becomes Muslim, all well
and good, otherwise the servant should be sent back to wherever he or she came
from.
Finally, we
will end this discussion on servants and drivers with a story that contains an
important lesson about the dangers of having servants in the home, and about
referring to the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and rejecting every ruling that contradicts
the sharee’ah, and consulting people of knowledge, and purifying the Islamic
society through application of the punishments prescribed by Allaah.
Abu Hurayrah
and Zayd ibn Khaalid (may Allaah be pleased with them) said: “We were with the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) when a man stood up and said, ‘I
urge you by Allaah to judge between us according to the Book of Allaah.’ His
opposite number, who was more knowledgeable, stood up and said, ‘Judge between
us according to the Book of Allaah and give me permission to speak.’ The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘Speak.’ He said, ‘This son of
mine was employed as a servant by this man, and committed zina (adultery) with
his wife. I gave him one hundred sheep and a servant in compensation [for the
damage to his honour], then I consulted some of those who have knowledge, and
they told me that my son should be flogged one hundred times and exiled for a
year [because he was unmarried], and that the woman should be stoned [because
she was married and she consented to the act].’ The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘By the One in Whose hand is
my soul, I will judge between you according to the Book of Allaah. Take back the
hundred sheep and the servant. Your son is to be flogged one hundred times and
exiled for one year. O Unays, go to this man's wife tomorrow and if she
confesses, then stone her.’ [Unays] went to her the next day and she confessed,
so he stoned her.”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, al-Fath,
12/136).
Note: one of the things that upsets every Muslim
who cares about the rulings of Islam is what happens in some homes, where
cleaners and maintenance workers enter upon women when they are wearing
nightdresses and house-dresses. Does these women think that these people are not
men in front of whom Allaah has commanded them to observe hijaab?
Another evil
thing that happens in some homes is where non-mahram men teach adolescent girls,
or some women teach adolescent boys without wearing hijaab.
Advice:
Expelling
effeminate men from our homes.
Al-Bukhaari
(may Allaah have mercy on him) reported, in his chapter on expelling men who
imitate women from our homes, the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbaas, who said: “The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed men who imitate women and
women who imitate men, and said, ‘Expel them from your homes.’ The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) expelled so and so [a man]. And
‘Umar expelled so and so [a woman].”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari in
Kitaab al-Libaas, chapter 62,
al-Fath, 10/333).
Then al-Bukhaari quoted the hadeeth of Umm Salamah, which he reported under the title “What is forbidden of men who imitate women entering upon women”:
“From Umm
Salamah, who said that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was in her house, where there was
also an effeminate man who told her brother ‘Abd-Allaah ibn Abi Umayyah: ‘If
Allaah wills that you conquer al-Taa’if tomorrow, I will show you the daughter
of Ghaylaan; she has four folds of fat in front and eight behind.’ The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘This person should not enter
upon you.’” (Reported
by al-Bukhaari, chapter 113, al-Fath,
9/333).
The
definition of “effeminate man” (mukhannath): this is a man who may resemble
women physically, or by imitating their movements and speech, and so on. If it
is physical, i.e., this is the way that he is made, then there is no blame on
him, but he must try as much as he can to change this resemblance. If he is
imitating women deliberately, then he is described as mukhannath (effeminate)
whether he commits the evil deed (is a homosexual) or not.
The
effeminate man referred to here – who was like a servant – used to enter the
houses of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) because he was considered to be “an
old male servant who lacked vigour” [cf. al-Noor 24:31].
When the
Messenger
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) realized that this person could
describe women very precisely and that he was describing a woman as having four
folds of fat in front and eight behind (four on each side), he ordered that he
should be thrown out and not allowed to enter his wives’ apartments, because of
the mischief that he could cause, such as possibly describing the women he saw
to strangers, or having a bad influence on the members of the household, such as
leading women to imitate men, or men to imitate women by walking in a coquettish
manner or speaking softly, or worse mischief than that.
So how about
the situation nowadays, when we see many of these servants imitating the
opposite sex, especially the kaafirs who are living in Muslim homes and who we
know for sure are having a bad influence on Muslim boys and girls. There is even
a group known as “the third sex”, who wear make up and dress in women’s clothes.
What a disaster for the nation which is supposed to be the ummah of jihaad!
If you want
to know more about how the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) opposed this “third sex” and how his
Companions fought with their sense of honour against such things, think about
this hadeeth:
Abu Hurayrah
(may Allaah be pleased with him) reported that an effeminate man who had dyed
his hands with henna (as women do) was brought to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it was said, “O Messenger of
Allaah! This man is imitating women.” So he banished him to al-Baqee’ (as a
punishment, sending him to an isolated place, and to protect others). It was
said, “Why do you not kill him?” He said, “I have been forbidden to kill those
who pray.” (Reported
by Abu Dawood, 4928, and others. See Saheeh
al-Jaami’, 2502).
Advice:
Beware of the dangers of the small screen.
Hardly any
home nowadays is free of some device that includes a screen [TV and computers],
and very few of these machines are used for wholesome or beneficial purposes.
Mostly they are used for harmful and destructive things, especially VCRs used
for watching movies. With the arrival of satellite dishes which bring shows
directly into Muslim homes and the widespread sale and exchange of movies, the
matter of controlling these devices has become nearly impossible.
There
follows a list of some of the harmful and corrupting effects that result from
watching TV etc. After thinking about them, let everyone who wants to earn the
pleasure of Allaah and avoid His wrath do what he can to change the situation:
Impact on
our faith (‘aqeedah):
·
Showing
the symbols of the kuffaar and their false religious signs, such as the cross,
Buddha, their temples, gods and goddesses of love, good, evil, light, distress
and rain. There are also missionary movies that call on people to venerate the
religion of Christianity and become Christians.
·
Giving
the impression that some created beings could compete with Allaah in creating
and giving life and death, such as some scenes which show people bringing the
dead back to life by using a cross or magic wand.
·
Spreading lies, myths, legends, witchcraft, fortune-telling and soothsaying, all
of which contradict Tawheed.
·
Giving
the impression that we should show respect to the representatives of false
religions, such as the pope, bishops and nuns who treat the sick and do good!
·
In many
dramas, characters swear by things other than Allaah, or play with the names of
Allaah, such as when one character called another ‘Abd al-Qeesaah.
[This implies disrespect
towards Allaah by toying with names that mean “slave of [Allaah]” – which are
among the best names that a person can have. For example, ‘Abd al-Rahmaan means
“slave of the Most Merciful”, ‘Abd al-Hakeem means “slave of the Most Wise” and
so on, but ‘Abd al-Qeesaah means nothing and makes a mockery of such names. –
Translator]
·
Causing
doubts about Allaah’s power, or His ability to create; or portraying life as a
conflict between Allaah and man.
·
Those
who watch such things lose the concept of disavowing oneself and distancing
oneself from the enemies of Allaah, because these shows and movies portray
things that make them admire the characters of the kuffaar and their societies,
and break down the psychological barriers between Muslims and kuffaar. Once the
idea of hatred for the sake of Allaah is removed, they begin to imitate these
kuffaar and take new ideas from them.
Social
impact
·
Admiration of kaafir characters when they are shown as heroes in these films.
·
Propagation of crime, through showing scenes of violence, murders, kidnap and
rape.
·
Forming
gangs as is shown in films, to commit acts of aggression and crimes. Youth
detention centres and jails bear witness to the impact of the movies in this
regard.
·
Learning the arts of cheating, fraud and forgery, taking bribes, and other kinds
of major sins.
·
Calling
for women to imitate men and vice versa, which clearly goes against the hadeeth
of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in which he cursed those who do such
things. So we may see a man imitating the way a woman walks and talks, wearing a
wig and jewellery, using dyes and make-up. Or we may see a woman wearing a false
beard or moustache, and making her voice deep. This is one of the causes of
promiscuity in society and the emergence of the “third sex”.
·
Instead
of taking the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), Sahaabah, scholars and mujaahideen
as examples, people follow actors, singers, dancers and sports players.
·
Men no
longer feel any sense of responsibility towards their families, so important
needs are ignored and sick children are neglected, because the head of the
family is glued to the TV and may even hit a child harshly if he dares to
interrupt his viewing of a movie.
·
Rebellion of children against their parents, as is propagated on TV and in the
movies. If a child insists on taking money from his father, and his father
reminds him of the rights he has, the child in a TV drama may say, “Just because
you are my father does it mean that you can rip me off?!” But the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “You and your wealth belong to
your father.”
(Reported by Abu Dawood, 3530).
·
Breakdown of family ties, because people are too busy watching movies to visit
one another. When they do visit, they do not have any kind of useful
conversation or discuss solutions to family problems because they are gathered
around the screen, silently watching.
·
People
are distracted from taking care of their guests properly.
·
Spread
of laziness and idleness and reduction in productivity, because the TV takes up
the Muslim’s time.
·
Marital
discord and mutual hatred; outbreaks of reprehensible jealousy, as when a man
praises the beauty of a woman on TV in front of his wife, and she responds by
mentioning a handsome actor or newscaster.
·
Absence
of the proper kind of jealousy (gheerah), because people get used to watching
scenes of mixing, wives being uncovered in front of non-mahram men and unveiling
of daughters and sisters, and they are influenced by calls for women’s
liberation.
Moral
impact
·
Provoking desires by showing pictures of women to men, and images of handsome
men to women.
·
Calling
society to show that which should be hidden by promoting revealing clothes and
getting people used to seeing them.
·
Calling
for relationships between the sexes and teaching people how to get to know the
opposite sex, what sort of words should be exchanged in the beginning, means of
developing the forbidden relationship, telling stories of love and passion and
holding hands… etc.
·
Falling
into immorality and zinaa because of films which portray such things. Some
people even reenact what they see in the movies with some of their mahram
relatives, may Allaah protect us, or do bad things whilst watching these films.
·
Teaching women different kinds of dances which reveal their ‘awraat and are
tempting to men. This is a kind of promiscuity and deviation.
·
Developing a joking personality and no longer taking anything seriously, in
addition to the fact that too much laughter corrupts the heart, because of
comedy films.
·
Spread
of foul language which is used in many movies and TV shows.
·
Making
people miss Fajr prayers because they stay up late at night to watch what is
being shown on the screen.
·
Causing
people to pray late, not to mention causing men to miss the prayers in the
mosque, because their hearts are too attached to some soap opera, movie or
sports match.
·
Causing
people to hate some acts of worship, as sometimes happens when an exciting match
is interrupted so that people can go and pray.
·
Reducing the reward of some of those who fast, or causing their reward to be
lost altogether, because of the sin of watching these haraam things.
·
Criticism of some of the rulings brought by sharee’ah, such as hijaab and
polygyny.
Historical
impact
·
Distorting Islamic history and covering up the facts; failing to mention the
achievements of Muslims in movies that speak about human history.
·
Distorting proven historical facts, by showing oppressors as if they are
oppressed, such as claiming that the Jews have a just cause.
·
Belittling the heroes of Islam in the eyes of viewers, as in some dramas or
movies where actors play the roles of Sahaabah, leaders of Islamic conquests or
scholars and portray these personalities in an improper manner, mixing the story
with love scenes, where the actors are immoral and corrupt in the first place.
·
Subjecting the Muslims to psychological defeat and spreading fear among them by
showing different kinds of advanced weaponry in the hands of the kaafirs and
making the Muslims feel that it is not possible to defeat them.
Psychological impact:
·
Acquiring aggressive and violent attitudes from watching wrestling and violent
action films with scenes of bloodshed, bullets and sharp weapons.
·
Instilling fear in the hearts of those who watch horror movies, so that a person
may wake up screaming because of the dreams he has seen as a result of some
scene that has stuck in his memory.
·
Distortion of children’s and adults’ sense of reality by watching unreal scenes,
because Allaah has dictated that there should be cause and effect. An example of
this is some of the unreal scenes shown in cartoons, which have an effect on
children’s behaviour in real life.
Impact on
health
·
Harm
caused to eyesight, which is a blessing about which each person will be
questioned.
·
Increasing the rate of heartbeat, raising blood pressure and heightening nervous
tension and so on, when watching horror movies and scenes of bloodshed.
·
Late
nights cause harm to the body, and each person will be asked on the Day of
Resurrection how he used his body.
·
Physical harm caused to children when they imitate Superman and the Man of Iron
and others; harm caused to adults when they imitate boxers and wrestlers.
Financial
impact:
·
Spending money on buying TVs and films, paying for repairs and improvements and
receiving equipment [dishes, descrambling devices, etc.]. A person will be asked
about this money on the Day of Resurrection: what did he spend it on?
·
Many
people rush to buy extras that they do not need, or they compete in buying
clothes because of the advertisements etc. that they see on the screen.
Advice
Beware of
the evils of the telephone
The
telephone is a useful invention, and is one of the essentials of modern life; it
saves time, spans distances and keeps you in touch with everybody. It can be
used for good purposes, such as waking people up for Fajr prayers, asking about
shar’i matters and seeking fatwas, making appointments with good people,
upholding the ties of kinship and advising the Muslims.
But at the
same time the telephone may also be a means of doing many evil things. How often
has the phone been the cause of complete wrecking of a home, the source of
misery and suffering for family members and the impetus for men and women to do
evil and cause mischief! The danger lies in the ease of use, for it is a direct
route from the outside into the heart of the home.
Among the
evil uses to which the telephone may be put are:
1-
Disturbing nuisance calls.
2-
Women
getting to know strange (non-mahram) men, and the development of such
relationships. A young man whom Allaah had guided to the path of repentance told
me that when a young man gets to know a young woman by phone, she usually ends
up going out with him, and whatever immorality follows on from that, only Allaah
knows.
3-
Wives
may be turned against husbands and vice versa, or parents may be turned against
their sons and daughters, and vice versa, because of telephone calls from
trouble makers, resulting from hasad (destructive envy) and the love of evil and
causing division among people.
4-
Wasting
time in idle conversations that harden the heart and turn people away from
remembering Allaah. This is a problem especially among women, as they find it a
way to get things off their chests.
Solutions to
the phone problem include the following:
1-
Watching out for misuse of the phone inside and outside the home.
2-
Using
wisdom when answering the phone.
3-
When we
hear news from someone we do not know, we should deal with it according to the
Book of Allaah and obey His command (interpretation of the meaning):
“… verify it…” [al-Hujuraat 49:6].
4-
A sound
Islamic education will guarantee proper use of the telephone when the person who
is in charge is absent. [i.e., if children and youth are taught properly, they
will not misuse the telephone when their parents and elders are not around].
5-
The
last resort is to disconnect the phone if the evils it causes are greater than
the benefits it brings.
Nasheehah
We have to
remove from our homes all symbols of false kaafir religions and images of their
gods and idols.
‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her)
reported that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) would never leave anything in his
house that had crosses on it except he would destroy it.
(Reported by al-Bukhaari,
Fath al-Baari, 10/385,
Baab Naqd al-Suwar).
Nowadays we are suffering from having manufactured
goods which we bring from the kaafir countries, which include images and
engravings, and drawings of their gods and idols. This includes various kinds of
crosses, pictures of Jesus and Mary, pictures of churches, statues of Buddha,
Greek gods like the goddesses of love and good and evil, and so on.
It is not
right for the home of the monotheistic Muslim to have in it the symbols of shirk
that contradict Tawheed and destroy its foundations. Thus the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to destroy crosses if he saw
them in his house, by blotting them out if they drawn or engraved, or by
scratching them out or covering them in some other way, or getting rid of them
altogether.
This is not
religious extremism, because the one who forbade people to go to extremes – the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) – did this himself. Hence when
family members want to buy vessels or mattresses, etc., they should beware of
these symbols of false religions that contradict Tawheed. At the same time we
must point out the importance of being moderate in this matter; if the form is
not obviously a cross, for example, it does not have to be changed.
Advice
Removing
pictures of animate beings
Many people
decorate their homes by deliberately hanging pictures on their walls and putting
statues on shelves in some corners of the house. Many of these images, whether
they are three-dimensional or otherwise, include animate beings such as people,
birds, animals and so on.
The
statements of scholars who are well-versed in the matter clearly state that
static images of animate beings are haraam, whether they are engraved or drawn
or produced by machines – unlike images reflected by mirrors or in water. The
hadeeth of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) which curses image makers and
threatens them with being asked to do something that is beyond them, namely
breathing life into their images, on the Day of Resurrection, includes everyone
who works in the field of photography, except in cases where images are
necessary, such as ID photos and photos used in the hunt for criminals, and so
on.
Hanging up
pictures of animate beings also comprises another sin which could lead to the
person venerating the picture and falling into the sin of shirk, as happened to
the people of Nooh. The least harm that hanging up pictures may do is to renew
people’s grief or lead them to boast and feel too proud of their fathers and
grandfathers. No one should say “We are not prostrating to the picture!”
Whoever
wants to deprive himself of the great blessing of having the angels enter his
home, let him put pictures up. The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “The house in which there are
images, the angels will not enter it.”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 4/325).
There are many ahaadeeth which forbid making
images, such as:
“The people
who will be most severely punished by Allaah on the Day of Resurrection will be
the makers of images.”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/382).
‘Abd-Allaah
ibn ‘Umar reported that the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Those who make these images
will be punished on the Day of Resurrection. It will said to them, ‘Bring to
life that which you have created!’”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/382).
Abu Hurayrah entered a house in Madeenah and saw
something hanging on the wall which was engraved with forbidden images. He said,
“I heard the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, ‘[Allaah says:] Who is more
wrong than the one who tries to create something like My creation? Let them
create a grain or an ant!’”
(Reported by al-Bukhaari, 1/385).
Abu Juhayfah reported that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) cursed the maker of images.
(Reported by al-Bukhaari,
1/393).
If you want more information on this issue, you
may consult the books of the scholars.
In the
commentary on the hadeeth which says that the angels will not enter a house
where there are images, it says: “What is meant by ‘house’ is the place where a
person stays, whether it is a building, a tent or anything else.”
(Fath
al-Baari, 1/393).
The images
which prevent the angels entering a house are images of animate beings that do
not have the heads removed or are not subjected to disrespectful usage (usage
such as being stepped on, etc., that makes it clear this image is not being
venerated in any way).
(al-Fath,
1/382). Making
images of animate beings is a new thing innovated by those who worship images,
which includes what the people of Nooh did. ‘Aa’ishah narrated a hadeeth in
which she told the story of the church in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and the images
inside it; she said that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “When a righteous man among
them died, they used to build a place of worship over his grave and put these
images inside it; those are the most evil of people in the sight of Allaah.”
(al-Fath,
1/382).
Ibn Hajar (may Allaah have mercy on him) added:
“Al-Nawawi
said: the ‘ulama’ said: making images of animate beings is extremely haraam, and
is one of the major sins, because the one who does it is issued with a stern
threat, whether the image is something that is treated with disrespect or not.
It is haraam to make images whatever the case, whether the image is on a
garment, a rug, any kind of coin, a vessel, a wall, or anywhere else. As for any
picture that does not contain images of animate creatures, this is not haraam.”
The general
statement regarding images applies to both those that have shadows
(three-dimensional images) and those that do not have shadows (two-dimensional
images). This is proven by the hadeeth reported by Ahmad from ‘Ali, who said
that the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Which of you will go to
Madeenah and not leave any idol without breaking it or any picture without
blotting it out?” (Fath
al-Baari, 1/348).
The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was always keen to cleanse his house
of forbidden pictures, as the following example illustrates:
Under the
heading “Man lam yadkhulu baytan fihi surah
(The one who does not enter a house in which there is an image)”, al-Bukhaari –
may Allaah have mercy on him – narrated the hadeeth of ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be
pleased with her), in which she said that she bought a pillow which had pictures
on it. When the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw it, he stood at the door and did
not enter, and she could see from his face that he was upset. She said, “O
Messenger of Allaah! I repent to Allaah and His Messenger. What have I done
wrong?” He said, ‘What is this pillow?” She said, “I bought it so that you could
sit on it and recline on it.” The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “The makers of these images
will be punished on the Day of Resurrection, and they will be told, ‘Bring to
life that which you have created!’” And he said: “The house in which there are
images, the angels do not enter it.”
(Fath al-Baari,
1/392).
Some people may say, why have you spoken at such
length about this topic? We say: we have entered homes and rooms where we have
seen pictures of singers and other people, some of them appearing naked or
almost naked, hanging on walls and mirrors and wardrobes, and placed on tables,
so that the owners look at them every morning and evening. Some of them even
kiss the pictures and have evil thoughts when looking at them! Thus the picture
becomes one of the greatest causes of deviation. Anyone who has the eyes to see
will understand at least some of the wisdom behind the Islamic prohibition of
making images of animate beings.
We must
conclude this discussion by pointing out the following:
1-
Some
people say: “Pictures are everywhere nowadays, even on tins of food, and in
books and magazines and pamphlets. If we want to blot out every picture we will
waste all out time doing that. What should we do?
We say: try
to buy things that have no images in them – if possible. As for the rest, blot
out those that are obvious – like pictures on the covers of books, and the rest
of the book can be left and used. If it is something that is no longer useful,
like a newspaper and the like, remove it from the home. In the case of pictures
that it is difficult to erase – like pictures on cans of food, for example – in
sha Allaah it is not a sin to leave them as they are, as the scholars have said,
because they are things that are difficult to avoid, and the problem is becoming
overwhelming.
2-
If you
have to hang up something to decorate your walls, let it be some scenes of
natural views or mosques or things that will not provoke feelings that are
haraam.
The one who
hangs up verses of the Qur’aan and so on should pay attention to the fact that
the Qur’aan was not revealed to decorate walls, and that it is a kind of
disrespect to write verses of the Qur’aan in the shape of a man prostrating or a
bird and the like. He should also be careful that people sitting in a gathering
do not do things that go against the words of the aayah hanging above their
heads.
Advice
Do not allow
smoking in your home
There is
enough evidence (for those who are wise) that smoking is haraam in the words of
Allaah (interpretation of the meaning): “… [Allaah]
allows them as lawful al-tayyibaat [(i.e., all good and lawful) as regards
things, deeds, beliefs, persons, food, etc.] and prohibits them as unlawful al-khabaa’ith
(i.e., all evil and unlawful as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, food,
etc.)…” [al-A’raaf 7:157].
Allaah has
divided food and drink into two categories, not three. There are things that are
good and permissible , and there are things that are evil and forbidden. Who
could dare to say nowadays that smoking is good, when we know how it stinks and
we know how much money is wasted on it and how much physical damage is caused as
a result of smoking?
The
righteous home should have no lighters or ashtrays, not even those that are
given away free as promotional gifts, let alone narghiles (“hubble-bubbles”) and
the like.
If you are
afraid that people may smoke in your home, put up stickers to hint to people
that you do not want them to smoke. If you realize that someone wants to commit
this sin in front of you, you have to stop him in whatever way is appropriate.
Advice
Beware of
keeping dogs in your home
One of the
habits that have come to us from the kuffaar is the custom of keeping pet dogs
in the home. Many of the people in our society who are following the ways of the
kuffaar bring a dog into their home. They spend money to buy the dog, although
the price of a dog is haraam
(according to the hadeeth narrated by Imaam Ahmad,
1/356; see also Saheeh al-Jaami’,
3071). Then they
spend money on feeding it and keeping it clean, money which they will be asked
about on the Day of Resurrection. Having a dog at home has become a status
symbol among many rich people and high-level employees. The dog’s saliva is
naajis (unclean, impure), and the dog licks the members of the household and
their vessels. If a dog licks a vessel it must be washed seven times, one of
which must be with earth. How about if you realize how much reward is lost by
those who keep dogs? The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “There is no member of a
household where a dog is kept, but their good deeds will be reduced by one
qeeraat (according to a report narrated by Muslim, by two qeeraats) every day,
except in the case of a dog kept for hunting, agriculture or herding sheep.”
(Reported by al-Tirmidhi,
1489; Saheeh al-Jaami’, 5321).
The ban on keeping dogs does not apply to working dogs kept for agriculture,
hunting or guarding homes, buildings, livestock, etc. This also includes dogs
kept for necessary purposes such as pursuing criminals, sniffing out drugs, and
so on, as some scholars have explained.
(Al-Ta’leeq
‘ala Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Shaakir edn., 3/267).
Jibreel
(peace be upon him) explained to our Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) the reason why he could not enter
his house at a time they had both agreed upon. The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Jibreel came to me and said:
'I was going to come to you tonight, and nothing stopped me from entering the
house you were in except the fact that there was a statue of a man in the house,
and a curtain on which there were images, and there was a dog in the house. Tell
someone to cut the head off the statue, so it will look like a tree; tell
someone to cut up the curtain and make it into two pillows; tell someone to get
the dog out of the house.’” So the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did that.”
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad;
Saheeh al-Jaami’, no. 68).
Advice
Not
going to extremes in decorating the house
In many people's houses nowadays there are all
kinds of ornaments and decorations, because of their indulging in leisure and
being too attached to this world, and their desire to boast and show off.
When you enter some homes, you are reminded of the
words of Ibn ‘Abbaas: “In Paradise there is nothing of the things of this world
except the names.” We have no room in this brief discussion to go into detail
about all the weird and wonderful antiques, decorations, ornaments and
engravings with which some homes and palaces are adorned, but we will mention
the following:
Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And were it not that all
mankind would have become one community (all disbelievers, desiring worldly life
only), We would have provided for those who disbelieve in the Most Beneficent
(Allaah), silver roofs for their houses, and elevators (and stairways, etc. of
silver), whereby they ascend.
And for their houses, doors
(of silver), and thrones (of silver) on which they could recline,
And ornaments of gold…”
[al-Zukhruf 43:33-35]
i.e., were it not for the fact that many ignorant
people would think that being given wealth was a sign of being loved by Allaah,
which would lead to all of them becoming kaafirs for the sake of wealth, Allaah
could have given them roofs and staircases and locks of silver and gold from the
pleasures of this world, then when they died they would have no hasanah (good
deeds) to their credit, because they had already taken their share of pleasure
in this world. (Ibn
Katheer, Tafseer al-Qur’aan al-‘Azeem,
7/213)
Imaam Muslim (may Allaah have mercy on him)
reported from ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) went out on a military campaign, and
she took a velvet rug and covered the doorway with it. When he came back and saw
the rug, she could see from his face that he was upset. He ripped it down and
said, “Allaah has not commanded us to cover stones and clay with cloth!”
(Saheeh
Muslim, 3/1666)
Imaam Ahmad reported the story of Faatimah, when
they had made some food and she said to ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him),
“Why don’t we invite the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) to join us?” So he came, and put his
hands on the sides of the door, and saw a qaraam (a garment made of soft wool,
with colourful designs), so he went away. Faatimah said to ‘Ali, “Go and catch
up with him, and ask him, ‘Why did you go away, O Messenger of Allaah?’” [The
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] said, “It is not right for me
(according to another report: it is not right for a Prophet) to enter a
decorated house.”
(Reported by Imaam Ahmad, 5/221; Saheeh
al-Jaami’, 2411).
It was also reported by Abu Dawood under the
heading: Rajul yud’aa fa yaraa makroohan
(when a man is invited and sees something disliked).
(Sunan
Abi Dawood, 3755).
Under the heading,
Hal yurja’ idhaa ra’a munkaran fi’l-da’wah?
(should he go back if he sees something objectionable in the invitation?),
al-Bukhaari (may Allaah have mercy on him) reported that Ibn ‘Umar invited Abu
Ayyoob, and he saw a wall-hanging in the house. Ibn ‘Umar said, “The women are
having their way.” Abu Ayyoob said, “There are people I was worried about, but
you were not one of them! By Allaah, I will never touch your food.” Then he went
away. (Fath
al-Baari, 9/249).
Imaam Ahmad reported the same story from Saalim
ibn ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar, who said: “I got married during my father’s lifetime,
and my father announced it to the people, and Abu Ayyoob was one of the invited
guests. They had covered my house with a striped green cloth, and Abu Ayyoob
came and looked at it, then he said, “Are you covering the walls?” My father
felt embarrassed, and said, ‘Women are having their way, O Abu Ayyoob.’ He said,
‘Of all the people I feared would be taken over by the women…’”
(Fath
al-Baari).
Al-Tabaraani reported from Abu Juhayfah that the
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “You will have a lot of
worldly riches, so much so that you will cover your homes with cloth as the
Ka’bah is covered. You are better today than you will be on that day.”
(Saheeh
al-Jaami’, 3614).
In brief, what the scholars say about
ornamentation and decoration of houses is that it is either makrooh or haraam.
(al-Aadaab
al-Shar’iyyah by Ibn Muflih, 3/421)
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